NCJ Number
138234
Journal
Loyola University of Los Angeles Law Review Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: (November 1989) Pages: 45-58
Date Published
1989
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the dollar costs of capital punishment and life imprisonment uses data from a variety of States an studies and concludes that the death penalty is not an economical alternative to life imprisonment.
Abstract
The capital and noncapital processes involve pretrial, trial, and posttrial levels. The steps differ for each process and require more time and expense in a capital case. the costs include law enforcement, prosecution, courts, judges, corrections, and, for indigent defendants, public defenders. Several studies have compared costs in capital cases to costs in noncapital cases; in addition, some States have conducted unofficial research projects on the cost of capital punishment. A New York study compared a $1.4 million cost figure for each death penalty trial with $602,000 for the cost of life imprisonment for 40 years in noncapital cases. Florida has estimated that the true cost of each execution is approximately $3.2 million, or approximately 6 times what it would cost to keep the person in prison for life. Finally, regardless of whether it is possible to attach specific dollar amounts to each level for each category of offense, at every step in the process the defendant receives greater constitutional guarantees in a capital case than in a noncapital case. Therefore, the only possible conclusion is that capital punishment is more expensive than life imprisonment. Footnotes