Luke Everett: Stam the lawyer

Every time Paul Stam responds to an article he doesn’t like, I am newly surprised that he attended law school. His Oct. 7 letter “Refuting death penalty claims” contained many of the same logical fallacies upon which he usually relies.

First, in response to the claim that many people have been wrongfully sentenced to death row, he stated that no one in North Carolina has been wrongfully executed. That is called a straw man.

Second, in response to the claim that the death penalty is not a deterrent, Stam alluded to “dozens of peer-reviewed academic studies” showing that the death penalty is a “clear” deterrent. In so doing, he ignores the long line of experts – including 88 percent of criminologists in a 2009 study – who disagree. That is called cherry picking.

Third, he claimed that most of the expense of implementing the death penalty is the result of “obstruction by opponents of the death penalty.” He does not give these “opponents” their common title: defense attorneys. That is called equivocation.

Finally, he makes the astonishing claim that “25 innocent lives are saved by each execution.” He provided no attribution for this number. That is called pure fantasy.

This story was originally published October 11, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Luke Everett: Stam the lawyer."