NCJ Number
172468
Date Published
1995
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes the results of two recent studies (North Carolina and Kansas) on the financial costs of the death penalty and outlines the reasons capital murder cases are likely to be more costly to States than noncapital murder cases.
Abstract
The North Carolina and Kansas studies show that the death penalty as a sentencing option adds significant financial costs to a State's criminal justice system. These costs are not necessarily met through additional appropriations; instead, capital cases may use resources at the expense of other criminal cases. These studies show that although some savings are achieved in prison costs because of the prisoner's execution, the cost savings are relatively small compared to the additional systemic costs incurred from the additional procedural protections required for these cases. Although a large portion of the additional costs comes from the extended appeals common in capital cases, there are also significant additional costs at the earlier stages of such cases. Because most of the protections were established in response to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, States have limited recourse for reducing these costly procedures. The two studies found an annual additional expense for death penalty cases of $4 million. A number of systemic differences prevent direct application of this figure to Nebraska; however, all other things being equal, $4 million per year would probably be high for Nebraska, because the population is smaller than that of the other two States. This study did not attempt to calculate the additional costs of the death penalty in Nebraska; nevertheless, Nebraska does have procedural protections in place that are similar to those in North Carolina and Kansas, and these protections create additional costs. Appended information on procedural protections for capital cases as well as Nebraska statutes that provide for special procedures in cases of homicide.