Fugitive on run for seventeen years found living in cave by a drone

Re:Fugitive on run for seventeen years found living in cave ... by joshuamorton on Monday September 30, 2019 @03:50PM (#21119063)

This doesn't show that though. You have to examine the counterfactual: would the crime rate be even higher without the death penalty? If yes, it is a deterrent.

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Re:Fugitive on run for seventeen years found living in cave ... by stallmanite on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @04:05PM (#21129959)

How can one examine a couterfactual in cases like this? Barring access to Marty McFly’s time machine unless you have two identical copies of a state to experiment on how would you go about this?

Edit: legitimately curious, not trying to be nitpicky

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Re:Fugitive on run for seventeen years found living in cave ... by joshuamorton on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @04:10PM (#21130010)

You probably can't, which is my point.

Generally the best ways to analyze the impact of similar social changes is to compare two similar locations, one that makes a change and one that doesn't, over the same time period, and hope that controls for broader social change.

It's not perfect by any means though.

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