True or False: Research shows that the death penalty is a strong deterrent to murder.

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The National Research Council's 2012 report Deterrence and the Death Penalty found existing studies fundamentally flawed and should not be used to guide policy. Murder rates in death penalty states aren't lower than abolitionist states; Texas (most executions) has higher murder rates than Massachusetts (no death penalty since 1984). Trump's claim that executions deter crime contradicts the NRC's conclusion that research to date is not informative about whether capital punishment decreases, increases, or has no effect on homicide rates.

True or False: Research shows that the death penalty is a strong deterrent to murder.

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