Originally posted by lil bitchiness
Second, it is far MORE expensive to kill an inmate on the death row, than it is to keep him/her in prison for life. I thought this fact would be well known by now...guess not.
I heard this a lot actually and I am wondering, what does that extra money go into? Do you maybe have figures for that? I mean, what is it? Food? Electricity? Guards?
Originally posted by Bardock42
I heard this a lot actually and I am wondering, what does that extra money go into? Do you maybe have figures for that? I mean, what is it? Food? Electricity? Guards?
The cost comes from keeping the cases open and man hours researching them to make sure the person on death row is truly guilty. The actual death penalty is pretty inexpensive, its keeping the inmate alive and allowing the system to keep on working for the felon that is pricey.
Originally posted by Bardock42
I heard this a lot actually and I am wondering, what does that extra money go into? Do you maybe have figures for that? I mean, what is it? Food? Electricity? Guards?
Apology for my post. Your post appeared to be ridiculing...
$ New Jersey: Death Penalty Has Cost New Jersey Taxpayers $253 Million
A New Jersey Policy Perspectives report concluded that the state's death penalty has cost taxpayers $253 million since 1983, a figure that is over and above the costs that would have been incurred had the state utilized a sentence of life without parole instead of death. The study examined the costs of death penalty cases to prosecutor offices, public defender offices, courts, and correctional facilities. The report's authors said that the cost estimate is "very conservative" because other significant costs uniquely associated with the death penalty were not available. "From a strictly financial perspective, it is hard to reach a conclusion other than this: New Jersey taxpayers over the last 23 years have paid more than a quarter billion dollars on a capital punishment system that has executed no one," the report concluded. Since 1982, there have been 197 capital trials in New Jersey and 60 death sentences, of which 50 were reversed. There have been no executions, and 10 men are housed on the state's death row. Michael Murphy, former Morris County prosecutor, remarked: "If you were to ask me how $11 million a year could best protect the people of New Jersey, I would tell you by giving the law enforcement community more resources. I'm not interested in hypotheticals or abstractions, I want the tools for law enforcement to do their job, and $11 million can buy a lot of tools." (See Newsday, Nov. 21, 2005; also Press Release, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Nov. 21, 2005). Read the Executive Summary. Read the full report. Read the NJADP Press Release.
$ Tennessee Study Finds Death penalty Costly, Ineffective
A new report released by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury recommended changes to the stateÕs costly death penalty and called into question its effectiveness in preventing crime. The Office of Research noted that it lacked sufficient data to accurately account for the total cost of capital trials, stating that because cost and time records were not maintained, the Office of Research was unable to determine the total, comprehensive cost of the death penalty in Tennessee." Although noting that, "no reliable data exists concerning the cost of prosecution or defense of first-degree murder cases in Tennessee," the report concluded that capital murder trials are longer and more expensive at every step compared to other murder trials. In fact, the available data indicated that in capital trials, taxpayers pay half again as much as murder cases in which prosecutors seek prison terms rather than the death penalty. Findings in the report include the following:
Death penalty trials cost an average of 48% more than the average cost of trials in which prosecutors seek life imprisonment.
Tennessee District Attorneys General are not consistent in their pursuit of the death penalty.
Surveys and interviews of district attorneys indicate that some prosecutors "use the death penalty as a 'bargaining chip' to secure plea bargains for lesser sentences."
Previous research provides no clear indication whether the death penalty acts as a method of crime prevention.
The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals reversed 29 percent of capital cases on direct appeal.
Although any traumatic trial may cause stress and pain for jurors, the victims' family, and the defendant's family, the pressure may be at its peak during death penalty trials.
(July 2004)
Read the The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Office of Research's Report, "Tennessee's Death Penalty: Costs and Consequences."
$ Kansas Study Concludes Death Penalty is Costly Policy
In its review of death penalty expenses, the State of Kansas concluded that capital cases are 70% more expensive than comparable non-death penalty cases. The study counted death penalty case costs through to execution and found that the median death penalty case costs $1.26 million. Non-death penalty cases were counted through to the end of incarceration and were found to have a median cost of $740,000. For death penalty cases, the pre-trial and trial level expenses were the most expensive part, 49% of the total cost. The costs of appeals were 29% of the total expense, and the incarceration and execution costs accounted for the remaining 22%. In comparison to non-death penalty cases, the following findings were revealed:
The investigation costs for death-sentence cases were about 3 times greater than for non-death cases.
The trial costs for death cases were about 16 times greater than for non-death cases ($508,000 for death case; $32,000 for non-death case).
The appeal costs for death cases were 21 times greater.
The costs of carrying out (i.e. incarceration and/or execution) a death sentence were about half the costs of carrying out a non-death sentence in a comparable case.
Trials involving a death sentence averaged 34 days, including jury selection; non-death trials averaged about 9 days.
(Performance Audit Report: Costs Incurred for Death Penalty Cases: A K-GOAL Audit of the Department of Corrections) Read DPIC's Summary of the Kansas Cost Report.
$ Death penalty trials very costly relative to county budgets
Capital cases burden county budgets with large unexpected costs, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, "The Budgetary Repercussions of Capital Convictions," by Katherine Baicker. Counties manage these high costs by decreasing funding for highways and police and by increasing taxes. The report estimates that between 1982-1997 the extra cost of capital trials was $1.6 billion. (NBER Working Paper No. w8382, Issued in July 2001) Read the abstract.
$ Total cost of Indiana's death penalty is 38% greater than the total cost of life without parole sentences
A study by Indiana's Criminal Law Study Commission found this to be true, assuming that 20% of death sentences are overturned and resentenced to life. (Indiana Criminal Law Study Commission, January 10, 2002)
$ North Carolina spends more per execution than on a non-death penalty murder case
The most comprehensive death penalty study in the country found that the death penalty costs North Carolina $2.16 million more per execution than the a non-death penalty murder case with a sentence of life imprisonment (Duke University, May 1993). On a national basis, these figures translate to an extra cost of over $1 billion spent since 1976 on the death penalty. The study,"The Costs of Processing Murder Cases in North Carolina" is available on line at www-pps.aas.duke.edu/people/faculty/cook/comnc.pdf.
$ Florida spends millions extra per year on death penalty
Florida would save $51 million each year by punishing all first-degree murderers with life in prison without parole, according to estimates by the Palm Beach Post. Based on the 44 executions Florida has carried out since 1976, that amounts to an approximate cost of $24 million for each execution. This finding takes into account the relatively few inmates who are actually executed, as well as the time and effort expended on capital defendants who are tried but convicted of a lesser murder charge, and those whose deathe sentences are overturned on appeal. (Palm Beach Post, January 4, 2000)
$ California spends millions more on capital cases
California spends $90 Million dollars annually above and beyond the ordinary costs of the justice system on capital cases. $78 million of that total is incurred at the trial level (Sacramento Bee, March 18, 1988). In January 2003, despite a budge deficit, California Governor Gray Davis proposed building a new $220 million state of the art death row. (New York Times, January 14, 2003)
$ Florida spent average of $3.2 million per execution from 1973 to 1988
During that time period, Florida spent an estimated $57 million on the death penalty to achieve 18 executions. (Miami Herald, July 10, 1988)
$ Texas death penalty cases cost more than non-capital cases
That is about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years. (Dallas Morning News, March 8, 1992)
the death penalty is a hypocrisy and it is murder. its murder because it is based on revenge and punishment, surrounded by the illusion of a pious high ground in that "its the law".
the u.s. prison system is a failure in that it does not deter people from being criminals, but rather justifies criminality and only serves to harden criminals and victimise the weak. those who are weak are not hardened criminals. so there is the choice of a prisoner.
HOWEVER>>> the basis for which the modern prison system was created was rehabilitation.
so, america gets it wrong than the world MUST have it wrong, or so seems to be the mentallity here. automatically its "the prison system doesnt work". well, maybe it could work, but we're just going about it very wrong.
anyway, the point i was making is that the prison system, however failed, remains a noble ideal, in that it was not concieved as a means of punishment or revenge.
there is no logical reason to kill a person who is fully functioning. nobody can offer one. they can only allow their passions to judge the situation. to add to the illogic nature, people are willing to pay far more to kill a person. but why? why other than revenge? and if you reach the proper conclusion then question whether or not state sanctioned revenge killings make you feel just a bit uncomfortable?
Originally posted by Nazgulinthedark
I'm for it, but only in VERY extreme cases.Like Ron White says, if you kill somebody, we'll kill you back.
As soon as that is in place we can go on banning this "fair trial" stuff.
To me there is no difference between Executioner and Serial Killer. Both do virtually the SAME thing.
Also guys think about it:
Who do you THINK SIGNS up for the JOB of Executioner ? Someone who LIKES to kill, no ?
Think about it....you spend day in and day out sticking lethal injections into people, pulling the electric trigger, etc.
Is this kind of person any better than a criminal who commits "murder"?
I mean, yes. I agree that there are some sick people in this world who have committed such SAVAGE acts of torture and murder against other human beings. These kind of people DO deserve to die...
BUT.....
WHO has the RIGHT to kill them?
Which ONE OF US is SO GOOD and so much better than we have the right to deliver this death onto them ?????
Originally posted by Lord Urizen
To me there is no difference between Executioner and Serial Killer. Both do virtually the SAME thing.Also guys think about it:
Who do you THINK SIGNS up for the JOB of Executioner ? Someone who LIKES to kill, no ?
Think about it....you spend day in and day out sticking lethal injections into people, pulling the electric trigger, etc.
Is this kind of person any better than a criminal who commits "murder"?
I mean, yes. I agree that there are some sick people in this world who have committed such SAVAGE acts of torture and murder against other human beings. These kind of people DO deserve to die...
BUT.....
WHO has the RIGHT to kill them?
Which ONE OF US is SO GOOD and so much better than we have the right to deliver this death onto them ?????
you have a point, but at least the exectutioners are venting their love of murder through a way that helps society rather than hurts it.