to give them life in prison. When you look at the length of the appeal process, court proceedings, cost of housing them on death row, the cost of a death penalty sentence is pretty expensive.

And also another unsettling thought - where people have been cleared by DNA tests, it has been being on death row as a motivator that did a lot towards getting it done.

AP: "Turns out, it is cheaper to imprison killers for life than to execute them, according to a series of recent surveys. Tens of millions of dollars cheaper, politicians are learning, during a tumbling recession when nearly every state faces job cuts and massive deficits."

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/29552692/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/execute-or-not-question-cost/#.UXLxysp6PIU

I've "known" that so long, but if it turns out to be wrong, then I'll learn that. But that it is more expensive to go through the execution process than to keep someone in prison has been a long term assumption. And that when people are on death row they have a better shot at getting DNA evidence reviewed and tested. A life prisoner doesn't have that and may end up at the end of the line. But people have been released from prison when DNA cleared them, on, for instance, rape charges, so it's not a certainty.

appeals, is far more costly than life in prison. No, I don't have time to search for links, but they are out there--I've seen several reported on over the years. Google should help.

do they count the appeals of the life sentence in the cost of imprisonment, or just the incarceration/feeding/clothing cost? I mean, death row people appeal their sentences, but so do people who get life, don't they?

I do not believe that that is the case beyond full trial and perhaps one appeal for those sentenced to prison, though it might vary by state and jurisdiction. Extended appeals for those imprisoned (and indigent) are usually covered by family members, sometimes non-profit legal organizations, law school efforts, etc.

I always wondered about that. Thx.

It takes such a long time for the process to go through, and there is so much other legal work to be done, that I think the death penalty is significantly more costly.



I think the death penalty would only be cheaper if it were an expedited process like that of China's, where death penalties can often be carried out very, very quickly after being issued.

It's undoubtedly higher today.

Here is one answer for the costs for California
This lumps all prisoners together and says that if the
sentences of all those prisoners on death row were
commuted to life sentences they would see an immediate savings.
"The authors calculated that, if the Governor commuted the sentences of those remaining on death row to life without parole, it would result in an immediate savings of $170 million per year, with a savings of $5 billion over the next 20 years."

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty

If you google "costs life vs. death" there are a number of different posts.
I haven't looked at them all but it seems that they calculate the costs
differently. Maybe they all say it's cheaper to give life for 30-40 years.

But either option could be made the least expensive one, all depending on how we want to do things.
Very rightwing folks would make death a tough item to undercut. "If he's caught red handed, you declare him an enemy combatant, stand him up in front of a court martial, then a firing squad. You can skip the court martial as far, as I'm concerned, and use only one bullet." That's a fairly common sentiment on the right, and it would make death very cheap indeed. It would also make life very cheap.

The fact is there is NO foolproof way to guarantee that everybody who is executed is actually guilty of the crime, not even with advances in technology.

The death penalty is NOT acceptable because there is no way to correct a wrong execution.

But, everything I have read says that life in prison is cheaper. But, I would rather see a life sentence than a death sentence in any case. Death is easy for the perp. Life is much harder.

Cost shouldn't even come into the discussion. Capital punishment is immoral, uncivilized, does not deter crime, and does not do anything to avenge any victims' families. It's barbaric and serves no purpose other than to satisfy the blood lust of a violent culture. It's beyond past time that America get with the program and join the rest of the civilized world.

It costs about $47k/year to keep a prisoner in jail in California. I assume other states are around the same cost. (http://www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/laomenus/sections/crim_justice/6_cj_inmatecost.aspx)

The appeals and other legal costs for the death penalty run into the multiple millions of dollars. If it costs $2M, which would be pretty cheap, that's the same cost as holding the prisoner in jail for 42 years.

Add to this the fact that life expectancy is much shorter for people in prison, and it turns out life in prison is cheaper.

go through decades of appeals, and then execute.

You didn't know this?? I though everybody knew by now - it's been reported and discussed on DU often enough.

The state spends lots of money in not always successful attempts to get it right. The trials are more expensive, the appeals process is more expensive, and people are on death row for a long time (costing as much during this time as it would if they were in prison without the possibility of parole).

In spite of the extra precautions, there have been many people exonerated after being sentenced to death.

The death penalty is irreversible, unfairly applied, an ineffective deterrent, and *still* costs more money.

Here are some fact sheets from Maryland's recent fight to repeal the death penalty:

http://www.mdcase.org/node/52

People who receive a death sentence are allowed more appeals in order to help avoid executing the wrong person. The extra appeals are very expensive because of all of the professionals involved.

Includes all court costs, appeals, prison and execution costs.