Opponents of the death penalty often cite statistics arguing the DP
costs 2 million per case, and Life in prison costs 1 million over 50
years. Though JFA (Justice for all) has looked into the research and has
estimated that Life in prison costs 1.2 - 3.6 million dollars MORE then
the death penalty. Here is the break down in costs:
LWOP (at its cheapest):
Cell cost - 34,200/year
50 year cost - 2% annual increase (food, maintenance, housing, etc.)
Trial[s] - 75,000$
=
3.01 million dollars
DP (at its cheapest):
Cell cost - 60,000/year
6 year cost (average before death): 2% increase
Trials[s] - 1.5 million
=
1.88 million dollars
Now if we change the annual costs (say 4%) LWOP costs 4.04 million, and the DP costs 1.91 million. As we can see, the death penalty costs more [1].
But why does the DP cost less? LWOP prisoners usually face 30-40 years in prison, though 50 years is not uncommon. The annual cost for these prisoners is 40-50 thousand dollars a year. Now everyone agrees the trial costs of the death penalty are much more costly but there shouldn't be much of a question that the long term costs of the LWOP sentence is more then equivalent DP cases. I would also note in the death penalty your in the jail for a much shorter length of time, 6-8 years, whereas in LWOP your there sometimes for the remainder of your life. In that time there will likely be more medical costs for a criminal on LWOP. Even when using the abolitionist claim of DP trials costing 20 times more, we still see LWOP is more expensive over time [2]. Now as stated some people are on death row for 8 years. So do need to look into that difference? Yes, I do. That might be a game changer. And it is! the DP is still 1 million dollars cheaper then equivalent LWOP cases.
Also if its trial costs that worry you, dont be worried. Some say the DP may even save money. States that abolish the death penalty save no money on trial costs. The DP actually makes up for its trial costs by acting as a plea bargain tool. This avoids the cost of a trial entirely [3]! Looking at it this way the cost of the DP is now even less costly then we thought it was.
[1] http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/dp.html#D.Cost
[2] http://www.wesleylowe.com/cp.html#cost
[3] http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/1110
LWOP (at its cheapest):
Cell cost - 34,200/year
50 year cost - 2% annual increase (food, maintenance, housing, etc.)
Trial[s] - 75,000$
=
3.01 million dollars
DP (at its cheapest):
Cell cost - 60,000/year
6 year cost (average before death): 2% increase
Trials[s] - 1.5 million
=
1.88 million dollars
Now if we change the annual costs (say 4%) LWOP costs 4.04 million, and the DP costs 1.91 million. As we can see, the death penalty costs more [1].
But why does the DP cost less? LWOP prisoners usually face 30-40 years in prison, though 50 years is not uncommon. The annual cost for these prisoners is 40-50 thousand dollars a year. Now everyone agrees the trial costs of the death penalty are much more costly but there shouldn't be much of a question that the long term costs of the LWOP sentence is more then equivalent DP cases. I would also note in the death penalty your in the jail for a much shorter length of time, 6-8 years, whereas in LWOP your there sometimes for the remainder of your life. In that time there will likely be more medical costs for a criminal on LWOP. Even when using the abolitionist claim of DP trials costing 20 times more, we still see LWOP is more expensive over time [2]. Now as stated some people are on death row for 8 years. So do need to look into that difference? Yes, I do. That might be a game changer. And it is! the DP is still 1 million dollars cheaper then equivalent LWOP cases.
Also if its trial costs that worry you, dont be worried. Some say the DP may even save money. States that abolish the death penalty save no money on trial costs. The DP actually makes up for its trial costs by acting as a plea bargain tool. This avoids the cost of a trial entirely [3]! Looking at it this way the cost of the DP is now even less costly then we thought it was.
[1] http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/dp.html#D.Cost
[2] http://www.wesleylowe.com/cp.html#cost
[3] http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/1110
This ignores the time value of money. At a conservative 4% discount rate, the death penalty is about 25% more costly than life in prison.
ReplyDeleteAlso, is the average remaining lifespan of someone sent to prison for life really 50 years? That seems implausibly high.
Remember the costs also increase for LWOP too, so the overall cost difference is about the same. Also note plea bargaining makes the DP almost free. A CJLF study showed it offsets the trial cost.
DeleteYes it is, see source one. (I found it odd too)