At a rally on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump demanded that the police be strengthened and that drug dealers convicted of being drug dealers be sentenced to death. This was his first appearance in Washington D.C. after his departure from the White House.
The penalties for drug dealers “should be very, very severe,” Trump told the audience of his loyalists.
Trump falsely claimed that such a policy would deter drug-related crime and act as a deterrent.
“If you look at countries throughout the world, the ones that don’t have a drug problem are ones that institute a very quick trial death penalty sentence for drug dealers,” he said.
The former president’s claims contradict decades of research and data on the death penalty. Numerous studies have documented this. debunked the notionCapital punishment deters criminal behavior. It is also supported by the argument that longer prison sentences lower crime.
“We’re very hard pressed to find really strong evidence of deterrence,” Columbia Law School professor Jeffrey Fagan said in 2014Concerning the death penalty
Studies have shown that the elimination of the death penalty is far more effective in reducing violent crime. One study in 2019 found that murder rates have increased by 5%. actually tended to decline in countries after capital punishment statutes were abolished.
Sentences for drug-related crimes to death are also a violation of international law. Several United Nations bodies have stated that the death penalty should only be used for the “most serious crimes” — a standard that doesn’t include drug crimes, Amnesty International has pointed out.
Families of victims of crime are also affected by the death penalty. Numerous studies have shown that murder victims’ families are often the most vulnerable. adversely affectedExecution of the person accused of killing their loved ones, despite the expectation such executions would provide closure for families.
“More often than not, families of murder victims do not experience the relief they expected to feel at the execution,” said Florida therapist Lula Redmond, who works with family members of murder victims, in 2016. “Taking a life doesn’t fill that void, but it’s generally not until after the execution that families realize this.”
During Tuesday’s speech, Trump also called for numerous authoritarian policies that would bolster the already repressive police state in the U.S. The former president said that police squad cars should be placed on every street corner, and that qualified immunity laws — which prevent law enforcement officers from being held accountable in cases of police brutality, including murder — should be strengthened. He also advocated for the return of “stop and frisk” Search policies that are not constitutional and have been proven to be invalid People of color are unfairly targeted and criminalizedWhen put into practice.
Notably absent from Trump’s attempt to appear “tough on crime” were any calls for those who breached the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021, to face any consequences for the attack. The January 6 committee has new evidence. Trump didn’t want the Justice Department to prosecute his loyalistsIn the days following the attack, he suggested in public statements that If he is elected again, he may pardon the attackers.
