Costly punishment

Some proponents of the death penalty argue that tougher punishment or sentences will deter crime. Fact of the matter is that the average murder rate of death penalty states was 5.2 per 100,000 people and the average murder rate of states without the death penalty was 3.3 per 100,000 people (Bureau of Justice Statistics). Proponents may also argue that it is cheaper and easier to just kill the killers and not pay to house them in prisons for life. Federal statistics say that the average cost of defending a federal case is $620, 932, which is about 8 times as much as a trial not seeking the death penalty (Office of Defender Services of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts). Once in prison, it costs an additional $90,000 a year to house an inmate on death row versus a non-death row prisoner. The average investigative costs are more than 3 times as much in capital cases and the appeal process is 21 times more expensive in capital murder cases (deathpenaltyinfo.org). All of this money comes out of the taxpayers’ hard earned money. Why spend all the extra money to punish criminals in such a heinous way?

To conclude my blog postings, I would just like to say that the data does not lie. Capital punishment is costly to the taxpayers, racially biased, does not deter crime, and there is very much room for error, both on the investigative and defensive ends. There is no justification for this outdated method of punishment and it should be abolished.



Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, June 30, 2008, February 4, 2010.

Office of Defender Services of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, "Update on
Cost, Quality, and Availability of Defense Representation in Federal Death Penalty Cases," June 2008, February 4, 2010.

Death Penalty Information Center, 2010, February 4, 2010,

FBI Uniform Crime Reports, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2008, February 4, 2010,