death penalty vs life in prison

3,786 Views | 66 Replies | Last: 21 hrs ago by eric76
Harry Stone
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I always hear the cost of using the death penalty is more than leaving someone in prison for life. Does anyone have exact or nearly exact numbers on this?
HoustonAg2106
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There is zero percent chance that is true, common sense my man
mslags97
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Nope. It is absolutely true. I don't have the figures, but the process and the incarceration while waiting while on death row has outrageous costs. They system has made it much more expensive.
Tramp96
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mslags97 said:

Nope. It is absolutely true. I don't have the figures, but the process and the incarceration while waiting while on death row has outrageous costs. They system has made it much more expensive.


We need to change the system.

There is no reason for the death penalty to cost the taxpayers more than life in prison.
Bird Poo
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People say DR inmates have it worse living in prison the rest of their lives. If that's the case, how come the vast majority would rather live in prison the rest of their lives?
mslags97
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Quick search found this:


mslags97
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https://tcadp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TCADP-cost-fact-sheet-May-2024.pdf
aggiehawg
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Harry Stone said:

I always hear the cost of using the death penalty is more than leaving someone in prison for life. Does anyone have exact or nearly exact numbers on this?
Kind of depends on what you term are costs. For defendants charged with crimes in which the DP is on the table who need public defenders (most of them, usually) that requires an entire team of DP certified defense attorneys, investigators, psychologists, etc. So that will be a higher cost to the state. Ditto for all of the appeals that inevitably follow a conviction and death sentence.
VerdeAg
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Rope costs $10
No Spin Ag
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You know what's low cost? A Hangman's gallow out back behind the courthouse. If those sentenced to death actually died on the day they were sentenced,

imagine how much taxpayer money would be saved. The same goes for those who spend life in prison.
There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the later ignorance. Hippocrates
TXAggie2011
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Research has found again and again that death penalty cases are more expensive. Here's a Cato Institute article about it: https://www.cato.org/blog/financial-implications-death-penalty

Death penalty cases make the legal process much longer and much more complex than even life without parole cases. It adds up quickly from the start in just prepping for trial.
MouthBQ98
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The issue is we absolutely don't want to get a death penalty case wrong, as there is no possible restitution, so there are numerous avenues for appeal and that must be systematically plodded through. It is bad enough to unjustly imprison a wrongly convicted person. Imagine someone innocent being executed?

So, the lengthy and costly appeals process is morally and ethically necessary and it often is cheaper to keep someone in for life. It is less of a punishment but it is a punishment and keeps the public safe from the criminal, and in the extremely unlikely but possible case of a bad conviction due to a corruption of the process, restitution is possible.
Esteban du Plantier
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HoustonAg2106 said:

There is zero percent chance that is true, common sense my man


It's not the housing vs killing.

It's the years and years of appeals afforded to the death penalty defendant that cost millions.
.
TXAggie2011
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Esteban du Plantier said:

HoustonAg2106 said:

There is zero percent chance that is true, common sense my man


It's not the housing vs killing.

It's the years and years of appeals afforded to the death penalty defendant that cost millions.


The initial trials cost huge money even before the appeals process, which is also, of course, long. Everything from preparation to jury selection to the trial to the "second" trial for the punishment stage, it's all long and difficult and expensive.
EnronAg
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blood sucking lawyers....just kidding...but the difference is freaking insane...

the market prices of lead would go up in my administration...
jrdaustin
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TXAggie2011 said:

Esteban du Plantier said:

HoustonAg2106 said:

There is zero percent chance that is true, common sense my man


It's not the housing vs killing.

It's the years and years of appeals afforded to the death penalty defendant that cost millions.


The initial trials cost huge money even before the appeals process, which is also, of course, long. Everything from preparation to jury selection to the trial to the "second" trial for the punishment stage, it's all long and difficult and expensive.
It should go without saying that in the recent Biden commutation of all of the DR inmates, these costs are already expended, so in the end, we'll spend much more on these specific individuals now.
WBBQ74
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Death penalty cases/convictions tend to be cash cows for lawyers. A DP conviction should get ONE admin review by either the state AG or the SCOTUS within 60 days of sentence. If review is successful then execution is NLT 30 days later. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Quo Vadis?
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I'm of the mindset that you imprison them for life, and if they escape you kill them no questions asked
WBBQ74
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Death penalty cases/convictions tend to be cash cows for lawyers. A DP conviction should get ONE admin review by either the state AG or the SCOTUS within 60 days of sentence. If review is successful then execution is NLT 30 days later. Justice delayed is justice denied.
IndividualFreedom
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Not a huge fan of allowing our govt. to kill the individual, but I do believe there should be some kind of prison island where you get dropped off at with the rest of the bads and one must survive.

There is a movie call the great escape.

jt2hunt
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When you add in the cost of the appeals in the judicial system, plus how we house them separately from other inmates then it is higher cost per inmate.
OasisMan
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It seems like they are counting appeals / additional court appointments for the death penalty people,
But not for the ones that are only lifers
Garrelli 5000
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Bird Poo said:

People say DR inmates have it worse living in prison the rest of their lives. If that's the case, how come the vast majority would rather live in prison the rest of their lives?
100% speculation incoming.

People for the most part are incredibly resillient. Other than the typical white liberal.

They adapt to prison life and eventually begin to find moments of joy, comradere, etc. My guess is those "happy" moments drive the desire to live. Otherwise you'd see even more suicides in prison than what is already happening.

Our fear of prison says "yeah, kill me quick if it is an option" but once inside and adapted we'd both probably choose to live.
Captain Pablo
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Garrelli 5000 said:

Bird Poo said:

People say DR inmates have it worse living in prison the rest of their lives. If that's the case, how come the vast majority would rather live in prison the rest of their lives?
100% speculation incoming.

People for the most part are incredibly resillient. Other than the typical white liberal.

They adapt to prison life and eventually begin to find moments of joy, comradere, etc. My guess is those "happy" moments drive the desire to live. Otherwise you'd see even more suicides in prison than what is already happening.

Our fear of prison says "yeah, kill me quick if it is an option" but once inside and adapted we'd both probably choose to live.


This is probably pretty accurate

As has been stated, the cost of executing someone includes

Pretrial psych eval (if applicable)
Trial counsel
Trial investigators
Trial experts
Appellate counsel ct Appeals
Appellate counsel ct crim app
Writ counsel
Cost of incarceration

There's probably more but it adds up big time
Burnsey
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mslags97 said:

Quick search found this:



Lies. Only $75k? No way.
Captain Pablo
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Burnsey said:

mslags97 said:

Quick search found this:



Lies. Only $75k? No way.


Agreed. Big Lie

$100/day for 20 years is $730,000

And that's probably a very low end estimate
Who?mikejones!
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Seems off
Burnsey
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Per Google…The yearly incarceration cost per person in Texas prisons is $22,751…Nov 7, 2020

Now adjust for inflation.
doubledog
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Harry Stone said:

I always hear the cost of using the death penalty is more than leaving someone in prison for life. Does anyone have exact or nearly exact numbers on this?
Depends on the method of death. For example, rope and electric chairs are reusable.
TXAggie2011
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Captain Pablo said:

Burnsey said:

mslags97 said:

Quick search found this:



Lies. Only $75k? No way.


Agreed. Big Lie

$100/day for 20 years is $730,000

And that's probably a very low end estimate


It's incorrect, it's not really a "lie." It's Google's AI/search engine pulling the number from a document with a typo. In 1992, the Dallas Morning News reported life cases cost $750,000 while death penalty cases cost $2.3 million.

This document has the correct numbers from the 1992 report. https://tcadp.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/What-makes-the-Texas-death-penalty-so-expensive-2013.pdf
Burnsey
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Per Google…The yearly incarceration cost per person in Texas prisons is $22,751…Nov 7, 2020

Now adjust for inflation.
torrid
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Garrelli 5000 said:

Bird Poo said:

People say DR inmates have it worse living in prison the rest of their lives. If that's the case, how come the vast majority would rather live in prison the rest of their lives?
100% speculation incoming.

People for the most part are incredibly resillient. Other than the typical white liberal.

They adapt to prison life and eventually begin to find moments of joy, comradere, etc. My guess is those "happy" moments drive the desire to live. Otherwise you'd see even more suicides in prison than what is already happening.

Our fear of prison says "yeah, kill me quick if it is an option" but once inside and adapted we'd both probably choose to live.
Hence prisons like ADX Florence.
Old May Banker
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The death penalty should only be embraced in instances of zero doubt, IMHO (video, multiple eye witnesses, etc) ... but when that's the case, just shoot them in the head and stop with all the bull***** Zero reason for death penalty to cost even a tenth of life in prison.
one safe place
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Bird Poo said:

People say DR inmates have it worse living in prison the rest of their lives. If that's the case, how come the vast majority would rather live in prison the rest of their lives?
Yep, that always shoots down their nonsense statement. If their statement was true, you would have a long line of them asking for death.
HTownAg98
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Old May Banker said:

The death penalty should only be embraced in instances of zero doubt, IMHO (video, multiple eye witnesses, etc) ... but when that's the case, just shoot them in the head and stop with all the bull***** Zero reason for death penalty to cost even a tenth of life in prison.

Appeals exist to ensure the lower court handled the case properly, and it's critically important where the punishment isn't reversible. I'm no longer a proponent of the death penalty, but if we're going to have it, I'd rather it take 10+ years to ensure everything was done correctly than execute an innocent person.
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