Here is another piece of the deterrence puzzle, from economists Michael Frakes at MIT and Matthew Harding at Stanford (hat tip: SL&P), and this one is a bombshell. They estimate a 19% reduction in child murders from addition of a child-murder eligibility circumstance. Wow. I have not had time to read the paper in detail yet, but on a quick skim I note that they have taken care to construct a study that avoids that issues that sparked such controversy with the Donohue and Wolfers article, discussed here.

I hope Frakes and Harding are ready for what comes next. Having committed the ultimate in Political Incorrectness, they are now targets to be smeared. If the smearing can't be done honestly, the anti-side will resort to bald-faced lies.