States Consider Abolishing the Death
Penalty to Cut Costs
The debate over the death penalty has raged for decades: during the 1970s the U.S. Supreme Court actually declared the death penalty unconstitutional and then reversed itself just a few years later.
Since that time, the debate has remained heated; scores of innocent men have been released after years on death row, exonerated by DNA or other evidence. In 2003, the outgoing Illinois governor commuted the sentences of hundreds of death row inmates.
The argument in favor of abolishing the death penalty usually focuses on policy issues: the high probability of error, the disparity with which the death penalty has been applied to certain racial minorities, the availability of adequate legal services, and the question as to whether a civilized society should be in the business of killing its own.
Recently, however, the debate has shifted. Several states are once again considering repealing death penalty laws, but it isn't in the interest of human life. They're looking to save some money.
Late last month, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley appeared before the state
Senate and pitched an idea to abolish the death penalty in the state. The state
budget is tight, and the governor saw it as an opportunity to save money.
The measure failed, but the rationale was interesting ‒ and it isn't unique. Lawmakers in other states have had the same idea.
Death penalty cases are an extreme financial burden to states, often costing millions of dollars to prosecute. O'Malley says that homicide
cases in which the death penalty is not sought cost the state two-thirds less,
on average. In several other states, lawmakers have introduced bills to end the
death penalty as a means to free up much needed cash.
The trials in death penalty cases are generally lengthy and
often utilize more criminal defense attorneys and costly expert witnesses than non-death penalty
homicide cases. Beyond the trial, the appeals process can take years and use up
more of the state's resources.
Bills to repeal the death penalty are being pushed by
legislators in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and New Hampshire. In each of these
states, the argument to abolish death sentences is based on a budget
crisis.
Legislators have taken the position that
death penalty trials are largely a waste of money, considering that many death
row inmates die in prison before being executed or have the sentences
overturned. In a large number of cases, millions spent by states pursuing the
death penalty is lost. In the end, the
offenders effectively end up serving life sentences, rather than being put to
death.
When the cost and the reality of the punishment are broken
down in practical terms, even those who support the death penalty may be coming to
realize that, in most cases, states can save a lot of money by not
pursuing the death penalty.
The move to repeal the death penalty has not come without
opposition, as evidenced by the Maryland results. Those in favor of the death penalty say that by abolishing it,
states will see an increase in violent
crime.