The death penalty has been a bad investment
By David Floyd
“Just kill ‘em; it’s cheaper.” This from a friend of mine who, while accepting strong
arguments favoring life without parole over the death penalty, believed that execution was less
expensive than housing an inmate for life. His conclusion was based on a perception that a
suspect is caught, convicted and executed, all within a couple of years. I love the guy, but that’s
far from the case.
It’s counterintuitive, but taxpayers spend far more on our system of capital punishment than we
would if the death penalty were not an option. Every study undertaken in the U.S. concludes that
our death penalty system is far more costly than a criminal justice system in which the maximum
sentence is life without the possibility of parole.
__It costs far more to process a death penalty case from trial to execution than it does to house a
20 year-old man in prison until his natural death in his 70’s. One study from Florida said it costs
them six times as much.
__ Studies indicate that for the trial itself, you can increase by at least 50 percent% - some
estimates are as high as 600_percent% - the cost of seeking death over what’s needed in a trial
where the maximum sentence allowed is life without parole. That’s because of increased, up-
front costs: experienced attorneys (twice as many); additional expert testimony; more court time;
extra investigators and mitigation specialists; extra death penalty training; full post-conviction
review; and special attention to the possibility of executive clemency. There is no way to cut
back on these death-penalty-related costs.
__ Additionally, counties are burdened with all associated incarceration costs from capture
through sentencing. And in state penitentiaries, security and personnel costs are higher than for
other inmates.
__The subsequent necessary appeals require more court time, and cost more money. Yet; the vast
majority of those who remain in prison under a death sentence just die in prison. We’re spending
huge sums of tax dollars on a system of death, but what we are getting instead is de facto life
without parole.
_ Since 1976 Kentucky has prosecuted hundreds of capital cases and sentenced 92 people to die.
Of those 92, 56 died while in prison or had their convictions or death sentence reversed. Thirty-
three remain on death row today, many of whom still have pending legal challenges. Of 92,
three have been executed.
__So the huge majority of death penalty cases are reversed on appeal, while the state absorbs the
entire cost of the trial and appeals. Usually, the case is pleaded out to a non-death conclusion —
which defeats the purpose of pursuing the death penalty in the first place.
__Why is the death penalty a bad investment for Kentucky? After spending hundreds of millions
of dollars on the death penalty since 1976, we are left with the following results: a) the majority
of those sentenced to death in Kentucky had their death sentences reversed by the courts; b) in
the majority of cases in which the death penalty was sought, judges and juries imposed sentences
other than death; and c) only th+ee-3 percent of those sentenced to death actually die ef{from_
execution. _ Given the high cost of maintaining this system and the results it yields, is this not a
bad investment for Kentucky?
While money is only one consideration for our justice system, it still is a serious consideration. _
Any professional audit would prove that the death penalty system in Kentucky is a waste of
taxpayer dollars, squandering resources while other needs go unanswered. Kentucky’s budget
has been trimmed considerably over the last decade because of generally declining state revenue.
Many Kentuckians cry out for increased spending on education, health care, infrastructure,
pension stability.; but often the answer to such requests is: “We just don’t have the money.”
_ Our gut reaction to murderers is, as with my friend, “Just kill ‘em.” There are those who,
without a doubt, did horrible things to another human being. But it cannot reasonably be argued
that we reserve the death penalty only for the worst people since it is clear that we also convict,
sentence to die, and execute people who did not commit the crime. Consider our character as a
people. Are we willing to execute the occasional innocent person just so we can kill the truly
guilty?
__If you can get past that (and I cannot), do we really want to cling to a justice system that fails
miserably, costs tens of millions more than effective alternatives, executes hardly anyone, and
costs more than $50 million per execution?
_ Momentum is building to abolish the death penalty in Kentucky. Legislation filed in your
General Assembly seeks open consideration in House and Senate committees. Please call your
state legislators and ask them to support repeal.
David Floyd, R-Bardstown, is a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 50"
district.
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