Constitutional Law

Tighter Budgets, Tighter Death Penalty Rules

By Nicole Owens, Deputy Idaho State Appellate Public Defender, Capital Litigation Unit

Depleted state budgets are forcing some lawmakers to change their views on the cost of incarceration. Currently, 1 in 31 adults in this country is either behind bars or on probation or parole. This is the highest incarceration rate in our nation's history. Many states are finding they cannot afford to hosue so many inmates and are turning toward alternative options.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear recently signed a law that will send drug offenders to treatment instead of prison. This move is aniticpated to save the state millions of dollars. Other states are following suit, including Kansas, Montana and Pennsylvania.

The desire to save millions is also causing some states to reconsider their death penalty laws. "We are in such a dire deficit situation, and we need to look at things outside the box to solve our budget problems," said Carolyn McGuinn, state senator from Kansas. McGuinn, whose state is currently facing a $199 million budget deficit, estimates that seeking life in prison rather than capital punishment would save $500,000.

A recent study of capital trials in Maryland found that the state can save over $1.9 million each time prosecutors pursue a life sentence without parole instead of a death sentence. it was this desire to save millions that lead the Maryland House of Delegates to approve a bill requiring specific evidence guilt in death penalty cases. Gov. O'Malley calls this a "step forward," and indicted he will sign the bill, limiting capital cases to those with biological or DNA evidence of guilt, a videotaped confession or a videotape linking the defendant to a homicide. These tighter restrictions originated from an amendment during the Senate's consideration of a bill to abolish the death penalty outright.

O'Malley has long opposed the death penalty for religious reasons, but tight state budgets have caused some longtime supporters of capital punishment, like New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, to rethink their position on the death penalty. Nothing that economic realities are "a valid reason in this era of austerity and tight budgets," Richardson recently signed a bill repealing capital punishment in New Mexico.

However, some states are actually tightening the grip on tough-on-crime positions. Ohio Attorney General Rich Cordray told the AP, "it's a bogus argument to say the death penalty should be eliminated because cases take too long and cost too much." Cordray says there are plenty of participants in the system doing their best to delay cases and it is not justifiable to then complain about the length of appeals.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on April 06, 2009 (boomark / email).