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Wondering about death and dollars in Ohio and Texas

By Douglas A. Berman

Some commentators are questioning my (inflated?) guess that Texas may have spent a billion dollars seeking the death penalty for Johnny Paul Penry over the past three decades.  Though I am not sure my economic guess is reasonable, I am sure that it is a serious problem that nobody has seriously investigated (or even seriously asked) how much money has been devoted to trying to have Texas execute Johnny Paul Penry for his 1979 crime. I stress this issue now because the national spotlight is turning to Ohio and Texas in the campaign for the presidency.  Interestingly, these two states have had the most executions over the last three+ years: Ohio has had 18 executions from 2004 to the present; Texas has had 92 executions from 2004 to the present...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on February 18, 2008 (boomark / email).