Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[gusthuber]

Would a native speker accept the following or are there any serious mistakes:

Since the death penalty is legal(?), murder rates have gone up. It is proved (?) that more Blacks than Whites are sentenced to death.
Please comment.

[pugachevV]

Your sentence is good English. It means "Because the death sentence is legal, murder rates have gone up."

I assume you intend it to mean, " Murder rates have gone up since the death penalty became law".

Or, Since the death penalty became legal, murder rates have gone up.
It has been proven (or proved) that more...etc.
Use the pluperfect/past perfect.