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J ournal of Criminal Law and Criminology olume 99 Article 4 Issue 2 Winter Winter 2009 Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates: The Views of Leading Criminologists Michael L. Radelet Traci L. Lacock Follow this and additional works at : /jclc Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal J ustice Commons Recommended Citation Michael L. Radelet, Traci L. Lacock, Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates: The iews of Leading Criminologists, 99 J. Crim. L. Criminology 489 (2008-2009) This Criminology is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized administrator of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. 0091-4169/09/9902-0489 THE JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW CRIMINOLOGY Vol. 99, No. 2 Copyright © 2009 by Northwestern University, School of Law Printed in U.S.A. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS DO EXECUTIONS LOWER HOMICIDE RATES?: THE VIEWS OF LEADING CRIMINOLOGISTS* MICHAEL L. RADELET** TRACI L. LACOCK*** For centuries the death penalty, often accompanied by barbarous refinements, has been trying to hold crime in check; yet crime persists. Why? Because the instincts that are warring in man are not, as the law claims, constant forces in a state of equilibrium. -Albert Camus1 The question of whether the deathpenalty is a more effective deterrent than long-term imprisonment has been debatedfor decades or longer by scholars,policy makers, and the generalpublic. In this Article we report resu