A new study by Lewis & Clark Law School and Seattle University that exam­ined the costs of hun­dreds of aggra­vat­ed mur­der and mur­der cas­es in Oregon has con­clud­ed that ​“main­tain­ing the death penal­ty incurs a sig­nif­i­cant finan­cial bur­den on Oregon tax­pay­ers.” The researchers found that the aver­age tri­al and incar­cer­a­tion costs of an Oregon mur­der case that results in a death penal­ty are almost dou­ble those in a mur­der case that results in a sen­tence of life impris­on­ment or a term of years. Excluding state prison costs, the study found, cas­es that result in death sen­tences may be three to four times more expen­sive. The study found that 61 death sen­tences hand­ed down in Oregon cost tax­pay­ers an aver­age of $2.3 mil­lion, includ­ing incar­cer­a­tion costs, while a com­par­i­son group of 313 aggra­vat­ed mur­der cas­es cost an aver­age of $1.4 mil­lion. Excluding state prison costs, the dif­fer­ence was even more stark: $1.1 mil­lion for death sen­tences vs. $315,159 for oth­er cas­es. The study also found that death penal­ty costs were esca­lat­ing over time, from $274,209 in the 1980s to $1,783,148 in the 2000s. (See chart. All costs are in 2016 dol­lars.) The study exam­ined cost data from local jails, the Oregon Department of Corrections, the Office of Public Defense Services, and the Department of Justice, which pro­vid­ed infor­ma­tion on appeals costs. Prosecution costs were not includ­ed because dis­trict attor­ney’s office bud­gets were not bro­ken down by time spent on each case. Among the rea­sons cit­ed for the high­er cost in death penal­ty cas­es were the require­ment for appoint­ment of death-qual­i­fied defense lawyers, more pre- and post-tri­al fil­ings by both pros­e­cu­tors and the defense, length­i­er and more com­pli­cat­ed jury selec­tion prac­tices, the two-phase death penal­ty tri­al, and more exten­sive appeals once a death sen­tence had been imposed. Professor Aliza Kaplan, one of the authors of the study, said, ​“The deci­sion mak­ers, those involved in the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem, every­one, deserves to know how much we are cur­rent­ly spend­ing on the death penal­ty, so that when stake­hold­ers, cit­i­zens and pol­i­cy-mak­ers make these deci­sions, they have as much infor­ma­tion as pos­si­ble to decide what is best for Oregon.” Oregon has car­ried out just two exe­cu­tions since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed, both of inmates who waived their appeals. The state cur­rent­ly has a mora­to­ri­um on executions.

(A. Kaplan, P. Collins, and V. Mayhew, ​“Oregon’s Death Penalty: A Cost Analysis,” November 16, 2016; T. Hernandez, ​“How much does the Oregon death penal­ty cost? New study exam­ines 100s of cas­es,” The Oregonian, November 16, 2016; Press Release, ​“New Report Calculates Oregon’s Death Penalty Financial Costs,” Lewis & Clark Law School and Seattle University, November 16, 2016.) See Costs and Studies.

Citation Guide