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> What do you suggest in regards for money being spent on containing people who have zero chance on rehabilitation? Life in prison without parole is cheaper th

by jkyle 11y ago

> What do you suggest in regards for money being spent on containing people who have zero chance on rehabilitation? Life in prison without parole is cheaper than the death penalty. In fact, it's 10x more expensive to put someone to death than to imprison them for life. [1] [1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/05/01/considering-the-death-penalty-your-tax-dollars-at-work/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/05/01/cons...

tzs 11y ago
> Life in prison without parole is cheaper than the death penalty ...at the moment. I bet if you ran the numbers for the 1930's, for instance, when the average time from conviction to execution was 14.4 months (the range was 4.6 months to 46.1 months) [1], the death penalty would come out cheaper than life without parole. The cost argument is a risky one for death penalty opponents, since the cost can be fixed either by getting rid of the death penalty or by making it more efficient. [1] https://books.google.com/books?id=8cYom4BacjMC&lpg=PA164&ots=Pw69d5u2-b&dq=average%20time%20from%20sentencing%20to%20execution%20in%20the%201930s&pg=PA164#v=onepage&q=average%20time%20from%20sentencing%20to%20execution%20in%20the%201930s&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=8cYom4BacjMC&lpg=PA164&ots...
- jkyle 11y ago
  > The cost argument is a risky one for death penalty opponents, since the cost can be fixed either by getting rid of the death penalty or by making it more efficient. Not really. Because the precursor to the cost argument is that there is a trade off between between swift and being sure. The quicker you execute, the less certain you can be of guilt. People are constantly being set free after being on death row for years. The only way reconcile that with any concept of justice is to put more resources into gaining higher certainty. And even if you assume 100% certainty could, somehow, be gained...you then run into the cost wall. Fact is, being pro death penalty is being pro arbitrary execution of innocent people....and spending a lot of extra money to do it.

by jkyle 11y ago

tzs 11y ago

> Life in prison without parole is cheaper than the death penalty ...at the moment. I bet if you ran the numbers for the 1930's, for instance, when the average time from conviction to execution was 14.4 months (the range was 4.6 months to 46.1 months) [1], the death penalty would come out cheaper than life without parole. The cost argument is a risky one for death penalty opponents, since the cost can be fixed either by getting rid of the death penalty or by making it more efficient. [1] https://books.google.com/books?id=8cYom4BacjMC&lpg=PA164&ots=Pw69d5u2-b&dq=average%20time%20from%20sentencing%20to%20execution%20in%20the%201930s&pg=PA164#v=onepage&q=average%20time%20from%20sentencing%20to%20execution%20in%20the%201930s&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=8cYom4BacjMC&lpg=PA164&ots...

jkyle 11y ago
> The cost argument is a risky one for death penalty opponents, since the cost can be fixed either by getting rid of the death penalty or by making it more efficient. Not really. Because the precursor to the cost argument is that there is a trade off between between swift and being sure. The quicker you execute, the less certain you can be of guilt. People are constantly being set free after being on death row for years. The only way reconcile that with any concept of justice is to put more resources into gaining higher certainty. And even if you assume 100% certainty could, somehow, be gained...you then run into the cost wall. Fact is, being pro death penalty is being pro arbitrary execution of innocent people....and spending a lot of extra money to do it.