A death sentence requires two trials; one trial determines guilt and another one determines the punishment. These trials are then followed by appellate review. This is not only a long process but a very expensive one. The cost of the judges, attorneys and clerks for these extensive trials can quickly add up. The federal commission determined that the cost of executing an inmate is fourteen times more expensive than keeping the inmate in prison for life(Times). The time the inmates spend behind bars is also expensive. In California inmates who will be executed spend their time on death row while inmate who serve life without parole serve their time in maximum security prisons. The California Commission concluded that “the additional cost of confining an inmate to death row is ninety thousand dollars per year per inmate”(Phillips Erb). A Duke University professor, Philip Cook, concluded that North Carolina could save eleven million dollars annually and others states like California, Kansas and Tennessee could save around two hundred million annually by abolishing the death penalty(Times). America’s economy is struggling and states being forced to release prisoners early and lay off corrections officers. Abolishing the death penalty would save states millions of dollars that could be used to improve prison facilities and create more
A death sentence requires two trials; one trial determines guilt and another one determines the punishment. These trials are then followed by appellate review. This is not only a long process but a very expensive one. The cost of the judges, attorneys and clerks for these extensive trials can quickly add up. The federal commission determined that the cost of executing an inmate is fourteen times more expensive than keeping the inmate in prison for life(Times). The time the inmates spend behind bars is also expensive. In California inmates who will be executed spend their time on death row while inmate who serve life without parole serve their time in maximum security prisons. The California Commission concluded that “the additional cost of confining an inmate to death row is ninety thousand dollars per year per inmate”(Phillips Erb). A Duke University professor, Philip Cook, concluded that North Carolina could save eleven million dollars annually and others states like California, Kansas and Tennessee could save around two hundred million annually by abolishing the death penalty(Times). America’s economy is struggling and states being forced to release prisoners early and lay off corrections officers. Abolishing the death penalty would save states millions of dollars that could be used to improve prison facilities and create more