Which group of states has a higher homicide rate?

[John Dibble]

Group A: Texas, Florida, Virginia, Missouri, California, Oklahoma

Group B: North Dakota, Vermont, Alaska, Iowa, Minnesota, Maine

Now can anyone tell me what all the states in each group have in common with each other?

Group A - And the states in this group have the death penalty and those in Group B don´t.

Which doesn't necessarily say that having or not having the death penalty has anything to do with murder rates in either group of states.

[John Dibble]

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?

What he said. The death penalty could still act as a deterrent in those states while their overall homicide rates could be still be higher for an entirely seperate set of reasons. Your education has obviously not provided you with the means to think logically if you're arguing in this manner.