EDITORIALS: Pennsylvania ​“Could Save by Ending Death Penalty”

A recent editorial in Pennsylvania’s Patriot-News recommended doing away with the death penalty as a way to address the state budget crisis. “Problems are entrenched in the system and given its high cost, Pennsylvania should definitely put the idea of doing away with the death penalty on the table,” the paper wrote. Among the reasons cited was the fact that the death penalty in Pennsylvania is essentially a very expensive form of life without parole: “In Pennsylvania, with the exception of the three prisoners who were executed, death row already means life without parole… . the majority of death penalty cases in our state that move through the appeals process end up as life sentences or less.” The editorial also noted the risk of executing the innocent: “Of course, there is a competing reason, or really a sounding alarm, that also is causing more states to take a hard look at their death penalty. At least 139 death row inmates have been released after their innocence was established, including 6 in Pennsylvania. This should shake our confidence.”

The editorial points to the costs of the death penalty in New Jersey, a state that recently abolished the death penalty. That state spent at least $253 million on the death penalty between 1982 and 2007 without a single execution. These costs would likely be much higher in Pennsylvania, which has the fourth largest death row in the country with 220 prisoners. Read full text below.

State could save by ending death penalty

The state should look at cutting costs by doing away with the death penalty.

As Gov. Ed Rendell unveils what is expected to be a tough budget this week, here is a money-saving idea: Abolish the death penalty.

If Pennsylvania did, it would not be alone. More states are looking at a ban, many as they face tough economic realities.

New Mexico’s Gov. Bill Richardson, who was a long-time death penalty supporter, signed legislation ending the practice just last year, saying it would cut costs.

That came on the heels of New Jersey, which did the same in 2007, saying the cost was too high.

While there is no study in Pennsylvania on the overall money spent on the death penalty, in New Jersey, research showed that from 1982 until 2007 the state spent at least $253 million and didn’t even execute anyone for decades. The study examined costs to prosecutor’s offices, public defender offices, courts and correctional facilities among other items.

For the commonwealth it is easy to speculate the cost would be much more because our state has the 4th-largest death row in the country — 220 prisoners.

Since 1976 though, only three people have been executed, two in 1995 and one in 1999. Compare that to the 22 who have died since 1988 of old age, illness or suicide, and Rendell has signed 101 execution warrants in the last seven years.

The state Corrections Department gives an average taxpayer cost for each inmate as $33,237 a year. But the big reason the death penalty is so expensive is the extraordinarily high cost of prosecuting capital cases, including the appeals.

Some studies say the price tag is as much as $2 million more for a prosecutor to put someone on death row than it would be to send someone to prison for life.

Kansas last year looked at this issue as it faced a budget shortfall and determined opting for life imprisonment without parole instead of the death penalty could save the state more than $500,000 per capital case.

Most death penalty inmates can’t afford their own attorney so a defense is appointed by a judge and paid by the state. Experts are hired to testify, investigations are conducted, multiple legal proceedings are held.

It all adds up.

Because the ultimate goal by the state is to put someone to death, defense attorneys say they put in massive amounts of time, as they should, on capital cases.

Polls show a majority of Americans agree with the death penalty but when they also are asked whether they support life sentences without parole for convicted murderers, a majority also say they do.

In Pennsylvania, with the exception of the three prisoners who were executed, death row already means life without parole. And according to the Death Penalty Information Center, the majority of death penalty cases in our state that move through the appeals process end up as life sentences or less.

Of course, there is a competing reason, or really a sounding alarm, that also is causing more states to take a hard look at their death penalty. At least 139 death row inmates have been released after their innocence was established, including 6 in Pennsylvania.

This should shake our confidence.

As should the fact that the American Law Institute, which 50 years ago laid the intellectual and legal foundation that helped state legislators draft laws creating a death penalty, has now come out against it.

The Philadelphia-based institute with more than 4,000 lawyers, judges and law professors as members, has concluded it is impossible to administer the death penalty consistently and fairly and it should no longer be an option.

The institute also talks about the high financial cost of capital punishment for states.

While the institute’s new take on capital punishment has not caused a stir in the mainstream media, it was huge news in the legal community and experts say it could eventually lead to the Supreme Court taking a hard look at the death penalty.

Problems are entrenched in the system and given its high cost, Pennsylvania should definitely put the idea of doing away with the death penalty on the table.

(J. Krebs (editor, editorial page), “State could save by ending death penalty,” The Patriot-News, February 6, 2010.) See also Costs and Editorials.