A series of academic studies over the last half dozen years have found that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder. They also found that speeding up executions would strengthen the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

"The studies do really draw a conclusion, there's no question about it," said the economics professor who conducted the study.  The conclusion is "there is a deterrent effect." He further concluded that, "Each execution results in five fewer homicides, and commuting a death sentence means five more homicides."

The author, a death penalty opponent, says, "My results show that the death penalty deters murder, what am I going to do, hide that fact?"

Editor's Comment: You sure didn't see much about this in the mainstream media, did you? Gosh, do you think the media might be opposed to the death penalty? 

Governor Makes Restoration Of Right To Vote For Convicted Felons Easier

Governor Steve Beshear recently announced that he is removing certain barriers in the application process to restore voting rights to convicted felons who have fulfilled the requirements of their sentence.  Prior to Beshear's announcement, convicted felons who sought the right to vote again were required to pay a $2.00 fee, write an essay, and provide three recommendations. 

Editor's Comment: Many object to "automatically" restoring the right to vote to felons who have served their sentences.  They feel that individuals who have shown they are unwilling to follow the law cannot claim to make laws for the rest of us without showing that they are rehabilitated. They believe that convicted felons can "earn" (the right to vote again) but it should not be "automatic". 

Our experience with felons seeking restoration of the right to vote: In the past 4 years our office has received 66 applications for the restoration of voting rights. Most of the letters (essays) are obviously sincere and the applicants are rehabilitated.  We have objected to 10 of the applications for the following reasons: Homicide convictions, Sexual Assault convictions, convictions for extremely violent crimes, and when the applicant still owes restitution to their victim.

High School Dropout Rates

Among youth age 16 to 24, Hispanics accounted for 41% of all current high school dropouts in 2005, however, they only made up 17% of the total population.

Source:  Child Trends DataBank, March 7, 2008

Editor's Comment: This is a scary statistic given the influx of illegal aliens into our country.  Why scary? Because young people who drop out of high school are unlikely to have even the minimal skills necessary to survive in today's increasing complex society and technological workplace.  Too many will likely end up on the welfare roles.