76-12-A2
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Capital Punishment
TranscriptA short while ago a former Attorney General of the United States -- one-time anti-war activist and defeated candidate for the U. S. Senate, Ramsey Clark, visited Sacramento, California. Appearing before a State Senate Committee he called for limiting all prison sentences to five years maximum even for first- degree murder. He said punishment in itself was a crime. He then expounded on the standard bleeding-heart line that prisons weren't the answer; that we must do away with poverty, lack of education, and broken homes. Do all that and crime will cease to be. A few months ago on one of these broadcasts I reported on a study by two eminent scholars debunking this whole society-is-the-cause-of-crime approach. The study had shown by fact and figure that crime was reduced in proportion to the increased severity and certainty of punishment and vice versa. But Mr. Clark touched a nerve with me when he reminded the Senators that California had carried out an execution in 1967 and then asked, -- QUOTE -- "Did that reduce the murder rate?" -- UNQUOTE. Having been Governor at the time of that execution, I feel called on to reply. No, I don't think one execution reduced the murder rate by any measurable degree. But, one Californian has reason to believe that that execution prevented at least one murder -- his own. During the week of that execution, an elderly storekeeper in San Francisco was the victim of a robbery. The robber had him on the floor and tried to stab him. Struggling to avoid the descending blade, the storekeeper desperately cried out -- QUOTE -- "You'll get the gas chamber if you do." -- UNQUOTE. The knife paused for a moment in its descent, then the robber ran out of the store. The intended victim wrote me that he was convinced that great attention given the execution at the time by the press had saved his life. Not statistical evidence -- just one man's opinion. But there are statistics which tend to refute the foolishness of Ramsey Clark. In the years from 1930 until the mid 50's, murder was actually decreasing in the United States. It fell from more than 10,500 in 1935 to less than 7,500 in 1955. During those years, capital punishment was consistently enforced in most of our states with executions numbering in the hundreds each year. Then in the early 60's the crusade against capital punishment began to roll. By 1964, there were only 15 executions and four years later they stopped altogether. Murderers weren't being put to death, but murderers were putting others to death; 12,500 in 1968, 18,500 in 1972 and more than 20,500 in 1975 . A 200 percent increase in 20 years. Professor Isaac Ehrlich of the University of Chicago offers an explanation of the relationship between crime and punishment. He says most human acts, including crime are based on costs and benefits. If the cost for doing murder is death and a criminal is aware of this he may decide not to commit the murder. Professor Ehrlich also said that during the years we began saving the lives of murderers we traded the lives of eight victims for every murderer we didn't execute. That kind of inflation we can't afford. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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