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NY Times editorial assails "High Cost of Death Row"

By Douglas A. Berman

Today's New York Times has this editorial contending that the high costs of the death penalty ought to lead cash-strapped states to move away from capital punishment.  Here are excerpts from a piece headlined "High Cost of Death Row": To the many excellent reasons to abolish the death penalty ? it?s immoral, does not deter murder and affects minorities disproportionately ? we can add one more.  It?s an economic drain on governments with already badly depleted budgets. It is far from a national trend, but some legislators have begun to have second thoughts about the high cost of death row. Others would do well to consider evidence gathered by the Death Penalty Information Center, a research organization that opposes capital punishment.... According to the organization, keeping inmates on death row in Florida costs taxpayers $51 million a year more than holding them for life without parole...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on September 28, 2009 (boomark / email).