Quote:
Originally Posted by kane
My only real problem with this is that there have been hundreds of people who have been exonerated through DNA evidence in recent years. Of course now we could use that DNA evidence up front at the trail and not do it retroactively as most of these people were found guilty before DNA evidence was really used. That said, it would take a fundamental shift of our legal system for this to save money. It actually costs more to put someone to death than it does to lock them up for life. The reason is because of all the legal issues that go into place to make sure we aren't executing innocent people.
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Based on 2008 stats, the average cost per year of a prisoner in an American prison is $76,100 so for minimum 20 years, assuming the cost stays the same, that's 1.5M give or take (and could be more, the longer the sentence and what kind of age / health the offender is in).
I understand your point, that things are gone about differently when seeking the death penalty, but yes for this to work there would have to be no change in current legal process; in brief, a death penalty case should NOT differ from a regular case and trial.
Additionally, that aside, you must also calculate the cost of reduced crime (obviously I don't know, but I'd think if thousands upon thousands of criminals started being put to quick death, a lot of people might think twice about committing a crime to begin with). Less crime = less legal and police costs, less people in prisons to have to pay for, less prisons needing to be built, etc...
Quote:
Originally Posted by kane
It is easy to say that only a tiny number of innocent people will be put to death, but is it so easy if one of those people is you or someone you love?
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My personal opinion on that is, my chances of that happening by "being in the wrong place at the wrong time" are less than the chances of having a fatal accident, being murdered, etc... so if it happens, it's truly "my time to go". Also, if I was convicted wrongly and given a life sentence, depending on my individual jail experience today and in the future, I might wish that I was simply killed as opposed to suffering for 20-30 years then being set free, having missed a large chunk of my life/youth.