Is the death penalty a deterrent to violent crime?
• Based on numerous studies, former Attorney General Janet Reno and the American Society of Criminologists agree that the death penalty has no deterrence value. • Janet Reno stated at a Justice Department news briefing in January 2000 that: “I have inquired for most of my adult life about studies that might show that the death penalty is a deterrent, and I have not seen any research that would substantiate that point.
