USA: Cost Emerging as Significant Factor in Death-Penalty Debates

In theory, the death penalty should be more cost-effective than life imprisonment. You sentence, you execute, and the defendant falls off the ledger.

But the reality in the U.S., of course, is vastly more complicated than that. The administration of the death penalty in the 37 states that have it is enormously expensive. So expensive, in fact, that some states are thinking of scrapping it largely on those grounds.

Some of the discussion is taking place in California. The story cites a 2008 report issued by the California Commission for the Fair Administration of Justice, maintaining the criminal justice system in California costs $137 million per year, but that the cost would drop to $11.5 million if it weren't for the death penalty.

But California is not the only state debating these issues, the story reports.

Last week a commission report recommended to the New Hampshire legislature that the state not expand its death penalty, citing its higher costs as one of the reasons. The same week, a bill to abolish the death penalty in Illinois passed in the state's House Judiciary Committee.

"Illinois has spent over $100 million in 10 years and hasn't put anyone to death," said Illinois state representative Karen Yarbrough. "It's time to put this barbaric practice to rest."

For supporters of the death penalty, cost is not part of the calculation in whether to mete out capital punishment.

Michael Rushford, who heads the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, said abolishing the death penalty shouldn't be a question, since in his view, capital punishment protects society and delivers justice.

Rushford compared the California appeals process for a capital punishment case, which is about 25 years, to other states, such as Virginia, where it is only about 6 years. If the law enforcement system is reformed to move the process more quickly, the cost could be reduced, he said.

Source: Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2010