In tight economic times, efforts must be taken to save money. Every cost study in the U.S. shows that the death penalty is more expensive than life in prison, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that opposes the death penalty. The center reported ending the financially wasteful death penalty would save "hundreds of millions."

Capital case costs spiral from the onset. Every stage, from jury selection through the appeals process, consumes more time and money than a typical criminal case

Arizona convicts sit on death row years awaiting execution. Viva Leroy Nash lived on death row 26 years before dying of natural causes. "Death row" itself is costly, requiring more security. The Arizona Department of Corrections does not provide figures on the costs of maintaining an inmate on death row, but California spends an additional $90,000 per year per death-row inmate. Arizona pay scales are less, but if it's $60,000, that's nearly $8 million annually.

Precise national figures don't exist. However, a recent Urban Institute study in Maryland estimated the additional cost of a capital trial was $1.9 million. Why does the death penalty cost so much? The easy answer is because "death is different."

Our legal system demands strong safeguards to minimize errors. Shoddy, less-stringent processes risk lives.

Consider, too, the moral cost of executions. President Bush identified Iran, Iraq and North Korea as the "axis of evil," yet these are the very nations with which we are identified when examining executions. Only China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia execute more than we do.

Further, many do not consider the death penalty an effective deterrent. Capital-crime rates are lower in states with no death penalty than in death penalty states. Quoting Janet Woodford, former warden of San Quentin: "The death penalty should be replaced with life without parole. I didn't reach that conclusion because I'm soft on crime." Norm Stamper, retired Seattle chief of police, said: "The death penalty is inefficient and extravagantly expensive."

Paraphrasing New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, signing the bill repealing New Mexico's death penalty: "I still believe in the death penalty, it's just that it's too expensive and it doesn't work"

This is an appropriate time to pragmatically examine the death penalty. Is it benefiting society?

Dan Peitzmeyer is vice president of the Arizona Death Penalty Forum.

by Dan Peitzmeyer - Apr. 13, 2010 12:00 AM
Special for the Republic

 

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