Testimony by Hugo Adam Bedau argues that (1) punishment can be suitably retributive without involving the death penalty, (2) current empirical evidence suggests that the death penalty is not an especially effective deterrent and such deterrence as it does provide is purchased at considerable social cost, and (3) not a single investigative body that has studied the problems of crime and criminal justice during the past decade has recommended the use of the death penalty. Testimony by Henry Schwarzschild argues that contemporary preference for the death penalty for violent crimes is not based in any evidence that the use of the death penalty deters violence; in fact, there is growing scientific evidence that the use of the death penalty is an incentive for emotionally disturbed persons to commit homicide and use the death penalty as an indirect means of suicide. Further, the imposition of capital punishment has been racially and sexually discriminatory and has resulted in the execution of innocent persons. While the public's current preference for the use of capital punishment is understandable as a reaction of fear, anger, and frustration at the rising tide of crime, it is the task of legislators to act rationally and morally by refusing to adopt a policy of capital punishment, given the absence of convincing evidence that it serves any social good. Bedau's presentation includes data on the recidivism of convicted murderers and 20 references.