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Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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FACT BRIEF

Do more than 50% of convicted murderers in the US have a prior felony conviction?

By Jacob Alabab-Moser
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NO

According to Justice Bureau statistics, in the years 1990 to 2002, 38% of convicted murderers had at least one prior felony conviction. This number rose to 40% in 2009, the latest available data year. When factoring in non-felony convictions, 53% of convicted murderers had a prior conviction between 1990 and 2002, while 48% had a prior conviction in 2009.

The Justice Department’s research arm reported in 2016 that imprisoning convicted criminals “isn’t a very effective way to deter crime” and may actually “have the opposite effect,” with “inmates learning more effective crime strategies from each other” and becoming “desensitized...to the threat of future imprisonment.” It also found that “increasing the severity of punishment does little to deter crime” given that “criminals know little about the sanctions for specific crimes.” Instead, it cited research that “the certainty of being caught is a vastly more powerful deterrent than the punishment.”

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
US Bureau of Justice Statistics Violent felons in large urban counties, 1990-2002
US Bureau of Justice Statistics Felony defendants in large urban counties, 2009
Prison Policy Initiative Mass incarceration: The whole pie 2020
Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice Five things about deterrence
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Gigafact
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.