A news­pa­per’s inves­ti­ga­tion into the costs of the death penal­ty in Florida revealed the state is spend­ing as much as $1 mil­lion per inmate just for incar­cer­a­tion and appel­late costs. Trial costs would add sub­stan­tial­ly to the state’s total. Florida has over 400 inmates on death row. For exam­ple, keep­ing J.B. Parker under the spe­cial secu­ri­ty of death row for 29 years has cost tax­pay­ers $688,000; his appeals cost $296,000, for a total of $984,000. The total for Alfonso Cave has been $1,059,750. Both men remain on death row. Those fig­ures do not include salaries for judges, pros­e­cu­tors and clerks han­dling the cas­es. Shortening the appeals car­ries the risk of mis­take. Neal Dupree, head of one of the appel­late offices for death row inmates not­ed, ​“People need to know that just because some­one has been con­vict­ed does not mean they are guilty,” he said. Larry Spalding, who had been head of one of the appel­late offices, added: ​“The most impor­tant thing we know about false con­vic­tions is that they hap­pen and on a reg­u­lar basis.” Spalding said. “(Appellate) attor­neys … are try­ing to exon­er­ate the inno­cent, and to pre­vent a wrong­ful exe­cu­tion. They should be admired, not exco­ri­at­ed.” Florida has had more exon­er­a­tions from death row (23) than any oth­er state in the country.

(M. Holsman, ​“Cost of Florida’s death row eas­i­ly exceeds $1 mil­lion per inmate, inves­ti­ga­tion shows,” Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, October 8, 2012). See Costs. Listen to DPIC’s pod­cast on Costs.

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