Most evidence about the impact of capital punishment on murder rates supports the conclusion that capital punishment

A) has greatly deterred murder in other cultures but not in America.
B) greatly increases the number of murders committed.
C) is an effective deterrent to murder.
D) is not an effective deterrent to murder.

Most research on the relationship between capital punishment and murder rates suggests that it is not an effective deterrent to murder. While there are some outliers and differing opinions among researchers, the majority of evidence points to the conclusion that the death penalty does not significantly decrease the number of murders committed.