Which group of states has a higher homicide rate?

[nclib]

Well, lets see if we can find any other differences.

Alaska                3.7
Iowa                  2.3
Maine                 0.8
Minnesota          4.3
North Dakota     0.8
Vermont             0.6

California           6.7
Florida             15.7
Missouri           11.5
Oklahoma          7.7
Texas              11.7
Virginia            19.9

I'm guessing this is the percentage of the state's population that is here illegally and you are trying to show a correlation between illegal immigration and murder.  This is flawed logic however as all of the states in group A are closer to the border than those in B which means they will naturally have a higher percentage of illegal immigrants.  Thus the inference that illegal immigrants cause higher homicide rates is absolutely baseless.  Also states with smaller populations tend to have less homicide since most murders take place in large cities which is another difference between these two groups.

Wrong guess!

My guess is that those numbers are the African-American population of each state. Anyhow, keep in mind that the death penalty is used disproportionately on African-Americans, compared to their murder rates.

[nclib]

Well, lets see if we can find any other differences.

Alaska                3.7
Iowa                  2.3
Maine                 0.8
Minnesota          4.3
North Dakota     0.8
Vermont             0.6

California           6.7
Florida             15.7
Missouri           11.5
Oklahoma          7.7
Texas              11.7
Virginia            19.9

I'm guessing this is the percentage of the state's population that is here illegally and you are trying to show a correlation between illegal immigration and murder.  This is flawed logic however as all of the states in group A are closer to the border than those in B which means they will naturally have a higher percentage of illegal immigrants.  Thus the inference that illegal immigrants cause higher homicide rates is absolutely baseless.  Also states with smaller populations tend to have less homicide since most murders take place in large cities which is another difference between these two groups.

Wrong guess!

My guess is that those numbers are the African-American population of each state. Anyhow, keep in mind that the death penalty is used disproportionately on African-Americans, compared to their murder rates.

First, I suggest you please define "used,"

I'm not sure what was unclear about my post, but I meant that African-American criminals (ESPECIALLY those who murder whites) are more likely to get the death penalty than whites are, even controlled for the murder rates of each race.

BRTD that doesn't prove anything. Your assertion seems to be that the death penalty causes high murder rates. But its also possible that high murder rates piss everyone off and cause them to demand the death penalty. It is also possible that there is no correlation at all, simply coincidence.

Michigan does not have a death penalty but the murder rate in Detroit is very high. How does that factor in?

The point is the death penalty does not function as a deterrent.

Your numbers don't prove that. How do you know that a repeal of the death penalty in Texas wouldn't increase the murder rate?

I doubt it would have a huge effect one way or the other. My theory is that a culture of violence in some states causes higher support for capital punishment, and also explains high murder rates.

[nclib]

Yes it does [serve as a deterrent].

Do you really think that a criminal thinks about whether he/she is going to get the death penalty, before he/she decides to murder someone?

Finally, detterence is but one basis for capital punishment.

I'm anti-death penalty, but I feel that deterrence (if true) is the strongest argument for capital punishment. The other arguments seem to mostly be religious, and therefore not be relevant on a legal level.