Ashcroft Comes to Town; Defends Death Penalty

From The Tennessean:

Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft endorsed capital punishment as an effective deterrent and lifesaver during a lecture last night at Vanderbilt University.

The death penalty can be credited with deterring some criminals — if not statistically, at least anecdotally, Ashcroft said.

The death penalty also can be credited with—if not statistically, at least anecdotally—the execution of mentally ill persons and persons whose guilt is in question. Ashcroft is correct in saying that there is no statistical evidence that capital punishment deters crime, because there is none.

For more on how the death penalty fails to deter violent crime, see this fact sheet from the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing (TCASK), or listen to the recent Christian Dissent interview with TCASK Jesuit volunteer and associate director Alex Wiesendanger.