Could someone please reword and explain?
. “If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call.” (John McAdams: Marquette University, Department of Political Science, BBC-Ethics: Capital punishment, 2014)

Question

Could someone please reword and explain?
. “If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call.” (John McAdams: Marquette University, Department of Political Science, BBC-Ethics: Capital punishment, 2014)

anonymous · Answer

If we kill murderers, and it does not discourage others from doing what they did, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to kill murderers, and doing so would have discouraged others from murdering, we have allowed the killing of innocent people. I would much rather risk the first option. This is not a tough call to me.

Does that help at all? I didn't reword it much, I can summarize/explain it more if you need it.

anonymous · Answer

@naxve No, thanks, I pretty much actually just didn't get the 'former/ first option' part of the passage. Thank you :)