US report says death penalty is waste of money

| 20/10/2009

(UPI) — States are wasting millions of dollars on the death penalty when funds could be used elsewhere in the U.S. economic crunch, a report indicated. "With many states spending millions to retain the death penalty, while seldom or never carrying out an execution, the death penalty is turning into a very expensive form of life without parole," said Richard Deiter, Death Penalty Information Center executive director and the report’s author. Also released Tuesday was a companion poll indicating police chiefs rank the death penalty last among crime-fighting priorities and the least efficient use of taxpayer funds.

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  1. Joe Average says:

    You might be right Wallace.  But I would refer you to The Innocence Project.  Using DNA evidence as of November 245 people have been exonerated.  Of crimes they were convicted of.  Wouldn’t have done them much good if they had already been executed. 

  2. Wallace says:

    It isn’t the death penalty that’s wasting those millions….. it’s the judicial system! The electric chair/gas chamber/hangman’s noose or firing squad is relatively inexpensive compared to the court costs. And I’m sure it’s cheaper to spend a few bucks to zap a killer in the chair than feed and clothe him and care for him for the rest of his life. Twenty years ago I read that it cost over $30,000 per year to keep a prisoner incarcerated. I expect it’s a LOT more now. Ever hear of “An eye for an eye”? If they deserve execution, execute them! And consider this: There are many repeat offenders for murder and rape…. but there are no repeat offenders if they’re executed.