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Execute a person who grievously harms or kills and, for sure, they're deterred from doing it again.

But no way is the death penalty an effective crime deterrent.

Over nearly 40 years I've worked, legally, with people who have committed crimes, including murder; with people accused of committing crimes but not convicted; and with people who committed crimes but were never caught.

A few of them gave some thought to what they were about to do before did it. These were mostly the ones not caught or convicted.

I'm still amazed how many people who commit crimes seem to think they're invisibly, that they can assault, burgle, rob, sell dope, threaten in broad daylight and nobody will notice.

Newbie criminals don't seem to have a clue about the possible consequences if they are caught and convicted of a crime, or can't imagine they will be caught.

Criminals who contemplate consequences before they commit crimes are usually career criminals who don't often get caught. If they do, they aren't convicted. If they are convicted, the charges are usually reduced and the sentence is relatively light.

For career criminals, the consequences of getting caught are of little consequence. The potential rewards of a crime make the time they could get worth the risk.

Junk bond dealer Michael Milken was convicted in 1989 of fraud and racketeering that earned him millions of dollars. He was imprisoned for 22 months in a minimum security prison popularly known as "Club Fed" and paid fines totally around $900 million. His current worth is estimated at around $2 Billion. Who says crime doesn't pay?

The majority of people on death rows around the U.S. probably didn't give much if any thought about whatever they did to be sentenced to death before they did it. I'm all but absolutely certain that few gave a moment's thought to what would happen to them if they were caught and convicted.

Capital crimes are almost always committed spontaneously. They are often crimes of passion. They are reactions.

The intent and premeditation that must be usually proved for a crime to be a capital crime are frequently proved by implication, by circumstantial evidence. A rage killing may be a capital murder because the enraged person waited a little too long to kill, or because, without thinking, the person picked up the murder weapon and struck out with it, also without thinking. Procrastination or mindless spontaneity can be the difference between a Life-Without-Parole sentence and execution.

Assassins don't expect to be caught, so consequences are pretty much inconsequential.

Time in prison definitely minimizes the time criminals are on the streets and able to commit crimes. But criminal penalties too seldom deter. The high rate of recidivism makes this clear.

LWOP sentences protect by making sure that people proven to be incapable of keeping themselves from killing or committing other capital crimes are never again on the streets.

Execution protects just like LWOP, but once a person is dead it doesn't do them much good if it's later found they were not guilty. Justice sure can't be served.

The death penalty is a means of punishment. It is a way to gain revenge. It is not an effective crime deterrent.

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