more on Don't mess with Texas

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Scott Alexander <salex () dsl cis upenn edu>
Date: November 14, 2004 8:32:48 PM EST
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: jess () triumf ca
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Don't mess with Texas

On Sat, 2004-11-13 at 20:04, David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: "Jess H. Brewer" <jess () triumf ca>
> Date: November 13, 2004 7:12:23 PM EST
> To: "This is not a gentle place." <cuckoosnest () riddlemaster org>
> Cc: dave () farber net
> Subject: Re: [Cuckoosnest] Don't mess with Texas
[snip]
> The above analysis is separate from the issue of whether the
> death penalty is wise or just.  My opinion on that issue is
> that life imprisonment leaves more time for correcting
> errors and thus improves the ratio, but it is very, very
> expensive and thus withdraws resources from the task of
> error reduction.  In short, I don't know.  But there is
> no logical contradition in the above news item.

Actually, it is the death penalty that is very, very expensive.  The
Death Penalty Information Center is, I believe, an abolitionist
organization, but they tend to be a good source for quoting many
different sources.
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=108&scid=7 is their page
on the cost of the death penalty.  To quote figures from a few items
from that page:

In Kansas, it costs $1.26 million for a death penalty case through
execution versus versus $740,000 for a comparable non-death penalty case
through end of incarceration.  (Both figures are medians.)  This study
appears to have been done by the state.

Duke found that North Carolina spends about $2.16 million more for death
penalty cases than on non-death penalty murder cases.

The Palm Beach Post concluded that Florida would save about $51 million
per year by punishing all murders with life-without-parole.

There is also the issue of disparities caused when the costs of these
cases is borne at a local (eg, county) level and poorer counties don't
try for the death penalty because of the ruinous effect on the budget.

Of course, these costs could be lowered by reducing the safeguards in
the system, but at the least, that seems certain to make the ratio of
innocents executed per murderer even higher.

Scott


--
Scott Alexander <salex () dsl cis upenn edu>

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