We hope an upward rather than a downward spiral.
So we know the death penalty isn't a deterrent for most violent crime, but is it a deterrent for the likes of Kissinger or Pinochet? (Recognizing that the sample of those who faced such a deterrent is damnably small.) There's the theory that the threat of revolution (or actual neighboring revolutions) sometimes restrains these types from more egregious crimes.
Jenny Brown