That logic doesn't follow, because it could be the case that America would be even more violent if we didn't execute people. Having said that, I find the deterrence angle suspect. Very few people would consider spending the rest of their life in jail acceptable, but being put to death unacceptable.

For profit prisons are not helping anything. They have zero interest in rehab and reformation - and unfortunately a lot of people in the states and beyond believe once you're a criminal you're tarnished forever.

It's extremely difficult to compare crime statistics that don't involve death. There's under reporting right and left, and there are classification problems.

With that said, I don't think it's true that the US has, per capita, significantly more violent crime than the median Western country. What we have is a LOT more guns, which increase the probability that our violent crime becomes lethal.

We DO have vastly more incarceration than most other countries, though.