---
title: 'NEW VOICES: Former Supporters Rethinking the Death Penalty Because of its High Costs'
description: 'According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, some long-time supporters of the death penalty have recently shifted their positions…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-voices-former-supporters-rethinking-the-death-penalty-because-of-its-high-costs'
section: news
date: '2012-10-08T18:02:18-04:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T14:33:27-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

! According to a recent article in the *Wall Street Journal*, some long-time supporters of the death penalty have recently shifted their positions, questioning whether the occasional execution is worth the costs incurred by taxpayers at a time when budgets are strained. **Gil Garcetti** (pictured), the former district attorney of Los Angeles County, which is responsible for roughly one-third of **California**'s 727 death-row inmates, recently remarked, “I was a supporter and believer in the death penalty, but I've begun to see that this system doesn't work and it isn't functional. It costs an obscene amount of money." A study of the death penalty in California in 2011 showed that the cost of housing a death-row inmate was $100,000 per year more than the cost of housing someone sentenced to life without parole. The same study concluded that just picking a jury in death penalty cases costs $200,000 more than the amount for non-capital cases. In **Montana**, a group called Montana Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty has joined the movement to repeal capital punishment because of its cost. **Steve Dogiakos**, the group’s director, said, “The death penalty is another institution of government that is wasteful and ineffective.” In **Utah**, **Republican State Rep. Stephen Handy** recently asked for a fiscal review of how much the state is spending on capital cases: "I don't have any illusion that either the Utah legislature or the people are ready to overturn the death penalty. But I want to start the dialogue," he said.

(A. Jones, "[Costs Test Backing for Death Penalty](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443493304578036792267666794)," Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2012). See **[Costs](/costs-death-penalty?did=108&scid=7)** and **[New Voices](/new-voices?did=482&scid=16)**. Listen to DPIC's podcast **[on Costs](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/resources/podcasts#cos)**.