Viewpoints: Death penalty hurts only taxpayers

Here's a pdf link to the study mentioned by Bruce Maiman. And here are some other links and two very good youtube videos - one of which was made by Allen Asch who is a member of the ACLU Sacramento Board of directors

Viewpoints: Death penalty hurts only taxpayers

By Bruce Maiman
Special to The Bee
Published: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 13A

If the state of California provides a taxpayer-funded program no one is using, is it worth keeping? So why do we still have a death penalty?

A new nationwide study puts things in stark terms: The death penalty is a waste of money.

The study was done by the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit information warehouse on capital punishment that also opposes the death penalty.

The center found that death penalty costs can average $10 million more per year per state than life sentences. The increased costs result from more expensive security requirements and guaranteed access to an often lengthy appellate process. States often must assign public defenders and pay for the costs of the prosecution as well. Cases are more costly to prosecute and can take more than four times longer to try, requiring additional money for lawyers, jurors, court personnel and other related costs.

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http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/2277967.html