teen on drug charges in Bali

I disagree.

"A September 2000 New York Times survey found that during the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty."

"FBI data shows that all 14 states without capital punishment in 2008 had homicide rates at or below the national rate."

http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts/the-death-penalty-and-deterrence

"The vast majority of law enforcement professionals surveyed agree that capital punishment does not deter violent crime; a survey of police chiefs nationwide found they rank the death penalty lowest among ways to reduce violent crime. They ranked increasing the number of police officers, reducing drug abuse, and creating a better economy with more jobs higher than the death penalty as the best ways to reduce violence. The FBI has found the states with the death penalty have the highest murder rates."

http://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment/case-against-death-penalty

 

" ... ACTO inferred that corporal punishment had not been a strong deterrent immediately before its abolition and noted that abolition was not followed by an increase in the offenses for which it had previously been imposed (Advisory Council on the Treatment of Offenders). In short, no evidence proved that corporal punishment provided more deterrence than imprisonment, to which it commonly served as an alternative penalty before abolition. Canadian and New Zealand studies confirmed these findings ... "

"Corporal punishment has come to be seen as incompatible with "modern" penal methods and as likely to militate against the success of reformative or rehabilitative treatment. The decline of corporal punishment was once hailed as a sign of the progress of humanitarianism, enlightenment, and civilization."

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/corporal_punishment.aspx

Advisory Council on the Treatment of Offenders. Report: Corporal Punishment. Cmnd. 1213. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1961.

 

Comparing individual states in the US is not useful in this argument particularly as the death penalty in some states has been reintroduced in response to the high murder rate. It is much more valid to compare between countries with and without the death penalty, if you do so you will find that the countries with a uniform death penalty have a correspondingly low murder rate.

Meaningless and very misleading of Amnesty to try and spin this. Since corporal punishment is not used in the US there is nothing to suggest it doesnt work, as far as capital punishment goes I would be very surprised if any law enforcement officer has the opinion that is shouldnt be used in murder cases. Lets see some stats and facts on countries besides the US.