Death Penalty Costs

Proponents of the death penalty have stopped trying to argue it deters crime or that it costs less or that all victims want this. All of the justifications for the death penalty come down to one which they effectively argue: retribution.

This week, Virginia executed Paul Powell for murdering a 16-year-old girl and raping and attempting to murder her 14-year-old sister. Reading the details of the crime, your instinctive response is utter revulsion and a cry for justice to be done. But state-sanctioned killing -- unless it is for reasons of national security -- is not something we as a society should be doing. In America, 139 people on death row have been exonerated. And a study on death penalty appeals found two-thirds of all death sentences were overturned due to serious errors, including prosecutorial misconduct. Then there is the cost: it is much more expensive to execute a prisoner than to send him to prison for life. For example, California could save $125 million a year if it eliminated the death penalty. That's a lot of money for a state cutting social services to the bone. It's time for the death penalty to be put to death.