EDITORIALS: ​“What Price is Too High for Death Row?”

In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that his admin­is­tra­tion plans to bor­row over $64 mil­lion from the state’s gen­er­al fund for the con­struc­tion of a new death row at San Quentin. At the same time, the governor’s lawyers have recent­ly sought approval from the courts to fur­lough state work­ers and reduce their pay. Teachers, police offi­cers and fire­fight­ers are los­ing jobs because of the bud­get cri­sis. The gov­er­nor also plans to end safe­ty net ser­vices for some of the poor­est and most vul­ner­a­ble cit­i­zens in the state. Yet the $64 mil­lion loan would mere­ly be a down pay­ment on the new death row, which is esti­mat­ed to cost tax­pay­ers near­ly $500 mil­lion. According to an edi­to­r­i­al in the Sacramento Bee, ​“The plan to build a shiny new 541,000-square-foot death row with­in San Quentin’s bound­aries under­scores fun­da­men­tal prob­lems with cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. So long as there is a death penal­ty, the state will need to house, clothe and feed the inmates at huge costs.”

California has the largest death row pop­u­la­tion in the coun­try, with over 700 con­demned inmates. Since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in 1978, how­ev­er, more inmates have died of sui­cide, over­dose and nat­ur­al caus­es (73) than by exe­cu­tion (13). California has not had an exe­cu­tion since 2006. The edi­to­r­i­al con­clud­ed, ​“In California, the death penal­ty is conceptual.…So long as we retain this bro­ken sys­tem, tax­pay­ers will be con­demned to pay the price – in this instance, about $500 mil­lion for a new death row.” Read full editorial below.

Editorial: What price is too high for death row?
Published: Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010

In a twist­ed sense of tim­ing, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has placed the exor­bi­tant cost of California’s the­o­ret­i­cal death penal­ty square­ly before the pub­lic again.

The Schwarzenegger admin­is­tra­tion announced last week that it plans to bor­row $64.7 mil­lion from the state’s cash-strapped gen­er­al fund to accel­er­ate con­struc­tion of a new death row at San Quentin State Prison.

The admin­is­tra­tion’s call for bids to build new digs for con­demned inmates comes as the gov­er­nor’s lawyers seek court approval to fur­lough state work­ers and cut their pay to min­i­mum wage, and as he push­es to end safe­ty net ser­vices for some of California’s poor­est and most vul­ner­a­ble cit­i­zens.

Schwarzenegger needs to recon­sid­er his pri­or­i­ties and focus on what is tru­ly impor­tant as his time as gov­er­nor ends – such as engag­ing in nego­ti­a­tions with leg­isla­tive lead­ers to resolve the bud­get impasse.

The $64.7 mil­lion is mere­ly a down pay­ment. Construction would cost about $360 mil­lion. Interest pay­ments on 20-year bonds the state ordi­nar­i­ly would sell to finance the con­struc­tion could add anoth­er $150 mil­lion or more to the final price tag.

The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation wants to bor­row the $64.7 mil­lion because the state is pre­vent­ed from sell­ing the bonds. Like so much else in the death penal­ty sys­tem, there is lit­i­ga­tion. In this instance, a suit by Democratic law­mak­ers has tied up the bond sale.

We can­not imag­ine the gov­er­nor decid­ed to press ahead with the con­struc­tion out of spite or because he is upset with Democratic leg­is­la­tors. That would be extreme­ly pet­ty. We pre­fer to think the admin­is­tra­tion is being dri­ven by its vision of what is best for the state, although its pri­or­i­ties are seri­ous­ly askew on this one.

Administration offi­cials note that law­mak­ers autho­rized a new death row in 2003. Prison offi­cials want to move for­ward now because con­trac­tors are hun­gry for work, which is cut­ting con­struc­tion costs.

Officials say the $64.7 mil­lion will be repaid once the state can issue the bonds. But that assumes the gov­er­nor will win the law­suit. As Schwarzenegger ought to know by now, it’s fool­ish to sec­ond-guess courts.

The plan to build a shiny new 541,000-square-foot death row with­in San Quentin’s bound­aries under­scores fun­da­men­tal prob­lems with cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. So long as there is a death penal­ty, the state will need to house, clothe and feed the inmates at huge costs.

San Quentin sits on prime bayfront prop­er­ty in Marin County. It could be sold for a for­tune and turned into hous­ing, a tran­sit hub, a fer­ry port and much more.

However, law­mak­ers can­not agree to close San Quentin. Nor are they pre­pared to abol­ish cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, giv­en that Californians sup­port it by a wide mar­gin. The U.S. Supreme Court and California Supreme Court seem will­ing to per­mit the process to con­tin­ue, know­ing that it is more like­ly that some­one will be struck by light­ning than die by lethal injec­tion or gas.

California has 706 con­demned inmates, by far the largest con­demned pop­u­la­tion of any state. Since cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment was rein­stat­ed in California in 1978, 13 men have been put to death at San Quentin. Another 73 oth­ers have died of sui­cide, drug over­dose and nat­ur­al caus­es, includ­ing one last week.

The longest serv­ing inmate, Douglas R. Stankewitz, has been on death row since Oct. 13, 1978. The old­est, David J. Carpenter, the ​“Trailside Killer,” became an octo­ge­nar­i­an this year. There has­n’t been an exe­cu­tion since January 2006, and there’s no cer­tain­ty there will be any exe­cu­tions any time soon.

In California, the death penal­ty is con­cep­tu­al. There sim­ply are too many smart attor­neys who can mount too many argu­ments that will per­suade too many judges to place exe­cu­tions on hold. So long as we retain this bro­ken sys­tem, tax­pay­ers will be con­demned to pay the price – in this instance, about $500 mil­lion for a new death row.

(“What price is too high for death row?” The Sacramento Bee, August 15, 2010). Read more Editorials. See Costs.