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Financial Costs of Capital Punishment

By Michael Blankenship

Nearly 3 1/2 years into a court-ordered suspension of executions, opponents have embraced a new argument: that Californians can't afford to carry out the death penalty in a constitutional manner.They contend that by commuting all 682 death row inmates' sentences to life without the possibility of parole, the state could save up to $1 billion over the next five years -- a view expected to be offered, and challenged, during a public hearing today in Sacramento on proposed changes to the lethal injection procedures.Read more....The cost savings from abolishing capital punishment can be substantial, as evidenced by the situation in California. Idaho would save millions of dollars if it abolished the death penalty. This is money that could be redirected toward proven crime control policies...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Justice Gambit on July 01, 2009 (boomark / email).