BY @Y Virginia’s Death Penalty
VIRGINIANS FOR
ALTERNATIVES hat are the facts?
Innocent People May Die
There have been 155 exonerations from death row nationwide since 1973. Virginia came within days
of executing Earl Washington Jr. before allowing DNA evidence to be examined which proved his
innocence. The vast majority of capital cases have no biological evidence to test.
It Does Not Deter Crime
A study of leading criminologists published in June 2009 it
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Simplifying Court Rules
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* 88% of the country’s top criminologists do not believe the Langer Prion one ———
death penalty acts as a deterrent to homicide. cneieig =z '
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* 87% percent of the expert criminologists believe that Expand Death Penalty [92%
death penalty abolition would not have any significant 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
effect on murder rates. Percent Naming Item As Primary Focus
6 . % A 1995 Hart Research Poll of police chiefs in the US
* 75% of the respondents agree that “debates about the put the death penalty last (at 1%) in identifying items
death penalty distract Congress and state legislatures from that reduce violent crime.
focusing on real solutions to crime problems.”
The Death Penalty Is Too Expensive
No cost study has yet been done in VIRGINIA. Those that have studied the cost found irrefutable data that the
death penalty costs taxpayers more than life imprisonment:
In CALIFORNIA the current system costs $137 million per year, it would cost $11.5 million for a system
without the death penalty. (California C ssion for the Fair Adi ation of Justice, July 2008)
In KANSAS, the costs of capital cases are 70% more expensive than comparable non-capital cases, includ-
ing the costs of incarceration. (Kansas Performance Audit Report, December 2003)
NORTH CAROLINA taxpayers spend $2.16 million per execution over the costs of sentencing murderers to
life imprisonment. (Duke University, May 1993)
In FLORIDA $51 million per year is spent above what it would cost to punish all 1"-degree murderers with
life without parole. (Palm Beach Post, January 2000)
In MARYLAND death penalty cases cost 3 times more than non-death penalty cases, or $3 million for a sin-
gle case. (Urban Institute, The Cost of the Death Penalty in Maryland, March 2008)
* The greatest costs associated with the death penalty occur prior to and during trial, not in post-conviction
proceedings. Even if all post-conviction proceedings (appeals) were abolished, the death penalty would stil/
be more expensive than alternative sentences.
Race Plays A Role
Researchers in Virginia found that a person is over three times as likely to be sentenced to death
when the victim is white vs. when the victim is black (Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and
Review Cc ission of Capital Punish ). Among persons executed for interracial murders in
the US, there were 15 executions with a white defendant & a black victim and 228 executions
with a black defendant & white victim (Death Penalty Information Center).
Race of Defendants Executed Race of Victim in Death Penalty Cases
Hispanic About 80% of the
% — murder victims in
@ Black - 383 aaa
cases resulting in an
5%
Zz
Hispanic 79 Za execution were white,
O White - 633 even though nationally
8 ine 4 SN only 50% of murder
‘Other Victims generally are
2% white.
Geography Determines Execution Rates
Since 1977, about 90% of all US executions have been carried out in the south. With //0
persons executed since 1982, Virginia is third behind Texas and Oklahoma in the number of
people executed. In Virginia, murder convictions ending in the death penalty are twice as
likely in suburban and rural jurisdictions as in urban jurisdictions.
Public Opinion Favors The Alternative
Support for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Life with
9
No opinion
6%
Death penalty
33%
* A 2010 poll by Lake Research Partners found that
a clear majority of voters (61%) would choose a
punishment other than the death penalty for
murder.
Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty * P.O. Box 12222 * Richmond, VA 23241
(434) 960-7779 * office@VADP.org * www.vadp.org
