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PAGE D4 ,
THE STATE, JOURNAL
MARCH 3, 2013
a
_ PATRICK DELAHANTY ~
ic Linthe media, Bot sport
- sors, Rep. Carl Rollins and §
ald Neal, have referred to’ rthe expens
involvedinmain- ~
taininga death-. ©
sentencing scheme,
While cost isn’t the
only reason law-
* makers should be
. discussing killing
killers, it's certainly
animportant one,
Measuring cost
_against effective-
nessis something reagonqble'people
. dowhen they plan and implement :
- policies. The $700 toilet scat fiasco ofa
few years ago reminds us that govern:
ment doesn’t always perform ata high
level.
Sirice 1976, Kentucky has spent .
~ . millions of dollars prosécuting death
sentences. Results are dismal in terms
- ofcdsts and outcomes: three execu-
tions, two of them ofmen who volun-
+ ‘teered by givingup'all appeals,
_ Because ofavariety of errors and
* . ylolations of the ciyil rights of deféii-
dants, fewer than half of those sen-
tenced to déath remain on death
row because courts ruled they could *
not be executed, And that error rate
will climb as cases wend thei way
through the court system,
~The Department ofPublicAdvo- _
cacy lists 19 reasons why itis so ex-
pensive to kill people. Butknowing
why it is expensive and knowing how
pleted: udy cai only be estimates,
‘of death penalty reptesehtation are
; cifically set asidé for death pene
“xeprésentation, the Department
~ bythe judiciary, prosécutors and.
“rections; -
Death Penalty Assessinent Report >".
~ found serious flaws in Kentucky's ad-
nD y spattmentea Kei
ince 19764s difficult. A pr
to costs: Outside the context ofa com-
sts becduserniany of thie cost:
hidden; the majority of death penal
costs do not appéar as line items |
anybudget.”
Nevertheless, of the lii
items ‘spi
Public Advocacy estimates it spend
approximately $3 million a year o
‘death-penalty répéesentation. Thi
does not include additiorial spenc
The December 2011: Koniucky.
ministration of, justice and the death
penalty.
Rep. Brent Yonts, vice-chaiimari
*_ of the House Judiciary Committee,
said, “This is too ..; serious ta: have-*
this many errors init: ‘Yo! don’t take c
people’ 's lives unless you now what .
you're doing,”
Inresponse to these findings, state ~
Rep. Jessie Crenshaw introduceda Cian
Fésojution in the 2012 session of the
General Assembly to study the report *
and find ways to correct these flaws.
“Yonis went on to say, “I basically-
thé deatl penalty statewide would re-
.quire a formal study. Any references
-he has always objected to the death’
53 Father Patrick: Delehanty Is executive director of the
‘Abolish the death ft penally
* petiove th the death. sony stiouldnot -
be abolishied, butifwe catnotadnmiin-’ {
humanely and, according
ster it.) ;
"To dd'it “fairly, humanely fad ace
_ Cording to the Constitution” will -
“. mean additional cost and expense. .
- TheAmerican BarAsscciation of-
feléd more thar 50 recommenda- *.
jon'tcomeé cheap. .
“Yoritsis a perfect dep of those
sho suppoft the death penalty, but |
6 e Kentucky has. No one
executed that was sen-
death using this flawed
8 Gov. Steve Beshear, like
conclude that until itis
ign any death warrants.
istén to Rollins, who said that while «
pénalty ¢ on moral grounds, the cdst of
appeals is another reason to banex-.
ecutions: “They're basically in prison
" forlife ariyway, so why spend the ex-
,tramoney when we have many other
‘needs in the state of Kentucky?
Kentuckians agree. in polls.con-
. ducted at various tinies since 1997,
the majority of Kentuckians support-
ed life without parole instead ofthe .
‘death penalty. The time has.come to’
give the people o of Kentucky what they
Prefer...
Catholic Conference of Kentucky...
fons needed to “fix” it, and. these fixes * a8
inistered, thestateshould, -
And maybe enough lawmakers will E
er
wit
UNE
oo
18
‘ort
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