MY DESIRE to become little more rational and a little less emotional about capital punishment led me to do research. Among other things, this is what I found:

There are some indicators that it acts as an anti-deterrent, that is, the death penalty actually increases the homicide rate in the United States: In 1996, those states which had the death penalty had an average murder rate of 7.1 per 100,000 population; those states which do not execute people had a homicide rate of 3.6.

Comparing adjacent states where one state has the death penalty and the other does not, frequently shows that the states with capital punishment have a much higher homicide rate.

A report of the Bureau of Justice Statistics showed that during 1996, southern states, where about 81 per cent of the executions are performed, have an average murder rate of nine per 100,000 population. States in the northeast are responsible for one per cent of the executions and have a murder rate of 5.4.

Proof from studies

A 1980 study of homicides in New York found that the average number of murders increased in the month following an execution.

A 1995 study of the annual percentage increases in homicide rates in California showed that murders increased 10 per cent a year during 1952 to 1967 when the state was executing people. When the state performed no executions (1968-1991), the average rate of increase was less (4.8 per cent).

Canada's homicide rate has dropped 27 per cent since the death penalty was abolished in that country (for ordinary crimes) in 1976. For many years prior to 1976, the federal government had converted each death sentence to life imprisonment.

The FBI Uniform Crime Reports Division publication Crime in the US for 1995 reports that there were 4.9 murders per 100,000 people in states that have abolished the death penalty, compared with 9.2 murders in those states which still have the death penalty. "In no state has the number of murders diminished after legalising the death penalty."

And I ask are we, in fact, a drowning society clutching desperately after a straw, or is it a noose? And what will we resort to when we come to realise that state killings - like violent movies and music - actually send the message that killing is an appropriate and acceptable way of resolving issues?

I am, etc.,

STANLEY REDWOOD

stanley_redwood@yahoo.com

Middle Quarters

St Elizabeth

Via Go-Jamaica