The Cost

The Death Row system is a government program, and as such is a very expensive system to upkeep. It is a far more expensive program compared to life-without-parole. Some of the high costs are related to longer trials, the need for more lawyers and experts on both sides of the case, and how rare executions actually are. A Susquehanna University report found that on average, a death row inmate costs $1.2 million more than a general population inmate. In July of 2018 there were 2,738 inmates on death row. Per the Susquehanna report, that is an extra $3 Billion dollars we are spending on death row. An easy way to save that money is to convert those sentenced to life-without-parole. 

In North Carolina alone, the death penalty costs $2.6 million per execution more than just sentencing the murderer to life imprisonment. Part of this cost is due to the legal battle everyone goes through when the prosecutor seeks the death penalty. The constitution requires a long and extensive trial for death penalty cases since it is a capital offence. If convicted, the process of appeals could take decades to complete. The cost to convict and sentence someone is between $200,000 to $300,000. Since 1978, California has spent more than $4 billion administering the death penalty. That is approximately $308 million per person for each of the 13 people who have been executed in California since the death penalty was reinstated.

If we sentence these inmates to life-without-parole, we are saving a ton of money. The death penalty does not make us any safer that those who get life-without-parole (LWOP). In fact, LWOP and the death penalty have the same deterrent effect: criminals remain off the streets for the rest of their lives. The death penalty does not deter crime any more that LWOP does. If it did, the states that currently use the death penalty would be more safe than the states that don't. However, that is not the case.

People are scared that if we get rid of the death penalty that will mean criminals would not pay for the crimes they commit. However, what people don't understand is that LWOP is basically a death sentence in itself. Those convicted of LWOP will die in prison. They will not be released, and they will spend their last days in a prison cell, still in the system. Yes, it's not a big show like the death penalty is, but doing it this way is much more cost effective. And with the money we save by cutting the death penalty, we can use that money to improve the criminal justice system by increasing public safety or providing resources to help prevent wrongful convictions.

If you would like to know more about this topic, please visit https://deathpenaltyinfo.org.