John Lott's newest piece at National Review Online's The Corner replying to a piece by Andrew Cohen at the Atlantic starts this way: Death-penalty opponents are engaging in a lot of hyperbole. As an example, in the Atlantic this past Thursday, Andrew Cohen went after...
Year: 2014
What does the research on the death penalty actually show?
The 2012 National Research Council report on "Deterrence and the Death Penalty" has a table showing only 10 panel studies on the death penalty (those shown above in plain type). No explanation is provided for why these studies are excluded. I have placed one of my...
So what caused crime rates to go up in 2012 in Chicago?: An extended discussion on the Dennis Miller Radio Show
The main event: Dennis was nice enough to have both the police officer and John Lott to discuss the issue of Chicago's murder rates more fully on Friday, May 16th from 12:33 to 1:00 PM, audio here. The second half the interview was on the general issue of why more...
What percent of federal and state prisoners are there for drug offenses?
This data is available here (file fjs10f18.cvs). The Federal prison population was about 17 percent of the state prison population in 2011 (Appendix Table 1). In state prisons was a much smaller percent of the population there for drug offenses (about 17 percent in...
CPRC: “Another Round in the Death-Penalty Debate,” Correcting mistakes in the Washington Post
On Sunday in the Washington Post, Radley Balko attacked a recent piece that CPRC's John Lott had on the death penalty. John Lott's piece that responds to Balko starts this way: The death-penalty debate goes on. After a piece that I wrote about the debate last week,...
CPRC in the News
Breitbart.com's Kristin Tate has this article here: "INTERVIEW: ECONOMIST JOHN LOTT LAUNCHES INITIATIVE TO FACILITATE TRUTHFUL REPORTING ABOUT GUNS" Clayton Cramer has a related article here: "Crime Prevention Research Center's Fundraising Efforts"
CPRC on the Dennis Miller and Bill Martinez Radio Shows
Dennis Miller Radio Show (Wednesday, May 7th, 2:06 to 2:30 PM) -- Great show largely on the problems with gun-free zones. Dennis - "I tell you that no matter what side of the gun issue you are in this country you are on you need to read the book More Guns, Less Crime...
CPRC at National Review: “The Shaky Case against the Death Penalty”
How far will death penalty opponents go to advance their cause? Our newest piece at National Review Online starts this way: After the recent mishandled execution in Oklahoma, in which the murderer ended up dying from a heart attack, death-penalty opponents pounced....
Is the death penalty racist? Are executions disproportionately affecting any particular race?
Data on homicide offenders by race from 1976 to 2005 is available here. After that the data is available from the annual FBI UCR reports. The bottom line is that while whites account for less than half of murderers, they are almost two-thirds of those who are...
Are there any cases where DNA evidence proves that an innocent person was put to death?
The one modern case that death penalty opponents point to that comes closest to meeting this claim involves Claude Jones Texas, who was convicted in 1989 and executed in 2000. Two pieces of evidence were involved in his trial: the testimony of two accomplice who...
CPRC on Fox News to discuss Chicago’s policing policies and restrictions on poor people being able to defend themselves
Appearance: Saturday, April 26th, 9:33 to 9:37 PM. Here is a rough transcript. Judge Jeanine: With me now, political commentator, author of seven books [actually eight] including More Guns, Less Crime, John Lott. Okay. More Guns, Less Crime. That is counter intuitive....
Human Events and The Examiner note the importance of the CPRC’s crowd funding effort.
The link to the crowd funding page is available here. Guns & Patriots at Human Events: GUN RIGHTS FOES RELY ON SHODDY STUDIES, SLACK STATS The economist, who is the leading expert on gun violence statistics, told Guns & Patriots that gun control advocates produce...