Celebrity | Larry Flynt Flynt Doesn't Want Guy Who Paralyzed Him Executed There's no proof death penalty is a deterrent, he writes in column By Evann Gastaldo Posted Oct 17, 2013 3:34 PM CDT Copied Hustler magazine magnate Larry Flynt speaks during a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., Wednesday, July 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian) Joseph Paul Franklin is set to be executed next month for a series of murders. Franklin also shot and paralyzed Hustler publisher Larry Flynt in 1978—but Flynt doesn't want him executed, he reveals today in a guest column for the Hollywood Reporter. "Supporters of capital punishment argue that it is a deterrent which prevents potential murderers from committing future crimes, but research has failed to provide a shred of valid scientific proof to that effect whatsoever," Flynt writes. In addition, execution costs taxpayers more than a life sentence does—and in Flynt's opinion, a life spent in prison is the more severe of the two sentences anyway. "As I see it, the sole motivating factor behind the death penalty is vengeance, not justice, and I firmly believe that a government that forbids killing among its citizens should not be in the business of killing people itself," Flynt concludes. Click for his full column. Read These Next New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. Iran's supreme leader makes first public comments since ceasefire. Her blood isn't compatible with anyone else's. Man accused of killing his daughters might be dead. Report an error