What Costs more, the tax of keeping criminals in jail or the tax for having the death penalty?

Answer 1

Death penalty costs much more. For example, the California death penalty system costs taxpayers more than $114 million a year beyond the cost of simply keeping the convicts locked up for life. (This figure does not take into account additional court costs for post-conviction hearings in state and federal courts, estimated to exceed several million dollars.)

With 11 executions spread over 27 years, on a per execution basis, California and federal taxpayers have paid more than $250 million for each execution.

It costs approximately $90,000 more a year to house an inmate on death row, than in the general prison population or $57.5 million annually.

In New York State, the average annual cost to incarcerate someone not on death row is about $35,000 per year. On the other hand, in the years since 1995, when New York State brought back a death penalty law, 7 people were sentenced to death, none had more than one appeal and 3 had not even had their first appeal. New York shelled out well over $200,000,000 for its capital punishment system since 1995. Assuming each of the 7 men lives for 40 years the cost to incarcerate all of them for life would be under 10 million dollars.

The main reason is that the legal costs are very high in death penalty cases, from the pre trial investigations, through the initial trial and the appeals. The legal process is supposed to prevent executions of innocent people. Over 50 of the 124 innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. If the process is speeded up we are sure to execute an innocent person.

Answer 2

The death penalty.

Most death row inmates are on death row for decades before being executed, if they ever are. Throughout that whole time there is appeal after appeal after appeal.

There are many defense attorneys who are so morally opposed to the death penalty that they volunteer their time to fight these cases. Once someone is convicted and sentenced to life in prison, however, rarely is there anyone but his family pushing for - and paying for - multiple appeals.

Richard

Answer 3

The death penalty costs more than life imprisonment.

I was wondering when the weekly "what costs more the death penalty or life in prison" question was going to pop up.

Thanks.

Answer 4

the cost of criminals and murderers walking the streets preying on the innocent