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Flawing, Misleading Study on Death Penalty Costs

By Kent Scheidegger et al.

A study on Maryland death penalty costs released last week has serious flaws and paints a misleading picture. There are three major deficiencies apparent on the face of the Urban Institute’s report: First, the study fails to consider the savings that result when a case is plea-bargained to life in prison, a bargain few murderers would agree to in the absence of the death penalty. Second, the study intentionally ignores the savings that result from the deterrent effect of the death penalty, asserting without justification that one article criticizing the numerous deterrence studies is “conclusive.” Third, the study assumes that the long delays and high reversal rates that have characterized Maryland’s death penalty in the past will continue indefinitely, ignoring the potential savings from reform of the review process...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime and Consequences on March 11, 2008 (boomark / email).