Executions may actually save lives

John D. Morgan's letter ("Executions do not make society safer," Nov. 28) asserts the death penalty is a "barbaric practice" that "does not make our society safer."

On that second count, he'd get an argument from 12 studies conducted principally by economists from prestigious universities over the past several years.

These studies -- reported in the New York Times, the Washington Times and the Daily Herald -- conclude that savings of between three and 18 lives are correlated in the following year with each execution.

Based on the 53 executions in the U.S. last year, that's anywhere from 159 to 944 lives in 2007. For an excellent brief discussion of this topic and the literature, see John R. Lott, PhD, "Freedomnomics," 2007, pp. 132-139.

There are other arguments against the death penalty -- that it's immoral, that it's inequitable, that in today's enlightened age it's cruel and unusual. The argument that it doesn't deter others, however, has been seriously challenged.

As for the charge of barbarism, assuming that the studies are accurate, is it more or less civilized for society to save, say, 500 innocent lives a year by taking 50 guilty ones?

Bob Foys

Inverness