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84 Tex. L. Rev. 1803 (2005-2006)
Capital Punishment and Capital Murder: Market Share and the Deterrent Effects of the Death Penalty

handle is hein.journals/tlr84 and id is 1821 raw text is: Capital Punishment and Capital Murder: Market Share and the Deterrent Effects of the Death Penalty Jeffrey Fagan* Franklin E. Zimring** Amanda Geller*** I. Introduction A. The New Deterrence The modem debate on deterrence and capital punishment, now in its fourth decade, was launched by two closely timed events. The first was the 1976 United States Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia,' which re- stored capital punishment after its brief constitutional ban following Furman v. Georgia2 in 1972.' In 1975, Professor Isaac Ehrlich published an influen- tial article saying that during the 1950s and 1960s, each execution averted eight murders.4 Although Ehrlich's article was a highly technical study pre- pared for an audience of economists, its influence went well beyond the economics profession. Ehrlich's work was cited favorably in Gregg and later was cited in an amicus brief filed by the U.S. Solicitor General in Fowler v. North Carolina. No matter how carefully Ehrlich qualified his conclusions, his article had the popular and political appeal of a headline, a sound bite, Professor of Law and Public Health, Columbia University. Support for this research was provided by Columbia Law School, the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and the Open Society Institute. Garth Davies provided invaluable help in data analysis. Excellent research assistance was provided by David Finkelstein, Jason Stramaglia, and Richard Oberto. Justin Wolfers, Brandon Garrett, and the participants at the Texas Law Review Punishment Law and Policy symposium provided helpful comments and advice. Thanks to Eva DeLuna Castro at the Center for Public Policy Priorities for providing access to county data for Texas. William Simon Professor of Law and Wolfen Distinguished Scholar, Boalt Hall, University of California at Berkeley. ... Doctoral Candidate, School of Social Work, Columbia University. 1. 428 U.S. 153 (1976). 2. 408 U.S. 238 (1972). 3. Gregg, 428 U.S. at 169. 4. See Isaac Ehrlich, The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: A Question of Life and Death, 65 AM. ECON. REv. 397, 398 (1975); see also Isaac Ehrlich, Capital Punishment and Deterrence: Some Further Thoughts and Additional Evidence, 85 J. POL. ECON. 741 (1977) (continuing the examination of the deterrent effect of capital punishment using cross-sectional data from several states). 5. Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae at 35, Fowler v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 904 (1976) (No. 73-7031).

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