To see why, suppose that for each murderer executed (instead of, say, receiving life imprisonment), the number of murders is reduced by three, which is a much lower number than Ehrlich’s and some other estimates of the deterrent effect. This implies that for each murderer not executed, three innocent victims would die.
为了知道原因，假设每处死一名杀人犯（而不是终身监禁），杀人犯的数量减少三个，这个数字大大低于尔里奇和其他某些人所估计的震慑力。这就意味着每饶过一个杀人犯，就会有三名无辜的受害人遭殃。实际上，政府如果不使用死刑，就会间接地“杀害”很多人命。