Will the Recession Lead to the Cancellation of Capital Punishment?

The severe economic crisis in the United States has led to an interesting development in the realm of punishment: A number of states have considered canceling the death penalty, because executions turn out to be financially wasteful.

Capital punishment is legislated in 36 states, and is supported by two thirds of Americans. However, recently, some conservative states such as Montana, Kansas, New Mexico and Maryland, are among the list of states considering the cancellation of the law in an attempt to battle their budget deficits.

The majority of states involved in this attempt are those who have executed a minuet number of prisoners, about five or less, in the past 30 years. Nonetheless, consideration for this motion is a country-wide affair. Experts claim cancellation

of the death penalty might save a vast sum of money.

The execution of a prisoner might cost up to ten times more than keeping him in jail for a life sentence. Beyond the legal complexity of the punishment, the defendant might file an appeal, dragging the legal battle over many years, while often using representation paid for by the state. Safeguarding death row and maintaining the execution chambers are also a burden on the states’ budget.

In Kansas, which has not executed a single prisoner since 1976, although nine prisoners are held on death row, the financial consideration outweighs any other consideration. Republican Sen. Carolyn McGinn has proposed a bill that will ban executions beginning in July, in order to cut the spending on state budget.

Activists against the death penalty have calculated that the cost of executing a prisoner in Kansas is 70 percent more than the cost of keeping them in jail. The cost of each execution amounts to more than 1.26 million dollars, while the cost of keeping a prisoner in jail for life is around 740 thousand dollars.

Politicians in New Mexico are hoping to change legislation as soon as this year. The state, which has only executed one person in the past thirty years, is currently holding two prisoners on death row, and can save millions if the law were to change.

A discussion will be held in Montana this week in attempt to convert the death sentence into a life sentence without parole, an attempt that has failed many times before. Montana has executed three prisoners since 1976. There are currently only two prisoners on death row.

Changing the legislation is also being considered in Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Utah. Maryland, which has executed five prisoners since 1976, seems to be the closest to canceling the death penalty, a step that is supported

by the Gov. Martin O’Malley. According to estimations, those five executions cost the state of Maryland 37.2 Million dollars.