Archive for Thursday, February 5, 2009
Death penalty opponents introduce bill to abolish executions based on cost
February 5, 2009
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Topeka — Death penalty opponents in Kansas have criticized capital punishment, saying it is unfair and pointing to instances around the country where innocent people were wrongly sentenced to death.
On Thursday, they took a different strategy as legislation was introduced to abolish the Kansas death penalty. They said that given the current budget problems, the death penalty was too expensive and unnecessary because Kansas law has an alternative — life in prison without parole.
“I know this session everyone is scrambling to find resources to fund things that the state needs, and now that we have life in prison without parole, the question is what does the death penalty get us that life without parole doesn’t,” said Donna Schneweis with Amnesty International and the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty.
State lawmakers are looking for ways to bridge a nearly $200 million budget shortfall.
There have been no executions in Kansas since the state re-established the death penalty in 1994. There are 10 men awaiting the death sentence in Kansas.
In a 2003 state audit report that looked at 22 first-degree murder cases, the median cost for cases in which the death penalty was imposed was $1.2 million, compared with $740,000 for the median non-death penalty cases reviewed. The calculations included the cost of long-term incarceration.
The report said numerous factors made death penalty cases cost more, such as lengthier court trials and appeals, and hiring more experts.
Senate Bill 208 would abolish the death penalty, but it would not apply to those already sentenced to death.
State Sen. Caroline McGinn, R-Sedgwick, introduced the bill, saying, “We need to be thinking outside the box,” when it comes to saving money.
McGinn said the death penalty hasn’t proven to be a deterrent to crime, and there is always the risk that an innocent person could be executed.
Since 1973, 130 persons sentenced to death in 26 states have been exonerated, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
More like this
- Bill to abolish death penalty will get legislative hearing 3 comments / February 23, 2009
- Kansas death penalty survives but will be studied for possible repeal 5 comments / March 16, 2009
- Death penalty 92 comments / February 13, 2009
- Life without parole considered as option in death penalty cases February 11, 2004
- Kansans opt against death penalty 4 comments / February 13, 2007
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5 February 2009
at 1:55 p.m.
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jimincountry (Anonymous) says…
Thank you Kansas Supreme Court for keeping the Carr brothers and similar vile creatures alive.
5 February 2009
at 2:03 p.m.
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skinny (Anonymous) says…
An eye for an eye!Hang’em!
5 February 2009
at 2:11 p.m.
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moderate1 (Anonymous) says…
Wouldn't it be more expensive to house them in prison for the rest of their life?
5 February 2009
at 2:17 p.m.
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moderate1 (Anonymous) says…
Average cost per prisoner is around $33,000 to $70,000 depending on prison facilities offered, age, and health. That's about $660,000 to 1.4 million every twenty years.
5 February 2009
at 2:27 p.m.
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geniusmannumber1 (Anonymous) says…
Invictus — please do.Moderate1 — no.
5 February 2009
at 3:19 p.m.
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guesswho (Anonymous) says…
Moderate - From what I understand (which may not be a lot) it is more expensive to have someone on 'death row' due to all of the appeals, types of trials, etc - something like 60-70% more expensive.http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty
5 February 2009
at 3:24 p.m.
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jonas_opines (Anonymous) says…
guesswho: My guess is the response to that will be “that's why we need to kill them quicker without all this process.”essentially
5 February 2009
at 3:30 p.m.
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rusty2 (Anonymous) says…
how about the Ramona Morgan Foundation - i am sure that some people would donate to raise funds to 'send her to God'. running over highway workers - i mean really - why are we paying to incarcerate her?
5 February 2009
at 4:12 p.m.
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Liberty_One (Anonymous) says…
It is not an effective deterrant and it costs far too much, plus there have been far too many people on death row that were later found not guilty. There is no justification for the death penalty.
5 February 2009
at 4:13 p.m.
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Moderateguy (Anonymous) says…
Expensive? I saw 500 rounds of .22lr at Cabelas last week for under $20. That's only 4 cents per round. I'm not advocating it in every case, but some folks have committed truly heinous crimes in front of numerous eyewitnesses and have rap sheets longer than your arm. They need to be put down. At some point society needs to say “we're done with you; get out of the gene pool!”
5 February 2009
at 4:36 p.m.
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moderate1 (Anonymous) says…
anxiousathiest“we're done with you; get out of the gene pool”, I don't remember saying that?
5 February 2009
at 4:40 p.m.
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moderate1 (Anonymous) says…
How does what I posted above not make me moderate?? Do I have to agree you to be moderate? That would make me a liberal wouldn't it?
5 February 2009
at 5:14 p.m.
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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…
anxiousatheist (Clint Gentry) says… Wow, rationality is starting to trump blind emotional rage, thank you Obama!”Marion writes:I am very interested as to why you thank Obama for this.Please post links to his commentary!
5 February 2009
at 6:22 p.m.
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TomShewmon (Tom Shewmon) says…
No death penalty. And that goes for W and Cheney too.
5 February 2009
at 7:43 p.m.
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The_Original_Bob (Anonymous) says…
Keep them in prison. Saves money and they will actually suffer for their crimes for the rest of their extended lives.
5 February 2009
at 7:52 p.m.
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Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…
I agree with Tob 100%. Let them face the fact they did this to themselves for as long as possible. And cut the perks.Then, if by some chance a falsely accused man is exhonerated, he still has some chance at living.Note,recent news of man who died in prison who was proven innocent by DNA plus confession of actual perp.His family is set to have his conviction overturned. Good news, sounds like that state has no objections to doing so.
5 February 2009
at 8:08 p.m.
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christie (Anonymous) says…
“What does the death penalty get us that life without parole doesn’t??”Certainty that they will not offend again.What's to keep this person from killing other inmates or prison guards or escaping and killing everything in sight. These people never answer that question.ps: I'm a hardcore liberal
5 February 2009
at 9:38 p.m.
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blue73harley (Anonymous) says…
Grand pappy told my pappy back in my day, sonA man had to answer for the wicked that he'd doneTake all the rope in TexasFind a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boysHang them high in the streetFor all the people to seeThatJustice is the one thing you should always findYou got to saddle up your boysYou got to draw a hard lineWhen the gun smoke settles we'll sing a victory tuneAnd we'll all meet back at the local saloonAnd we'll raise up our glasses against evil forces singingwhiskey for my man, beer for my horsesWe got too many gangsters doing dirty deedstoo much corruption and crime in the streetsIt's time the long arm of the law put a few more in the groundSend 'em all to their maker and he'll settle 'em downYou can bet he'll set 'em downCauseJustice is the one thing you should always findYou got to saddle up your boysYou got to draw a hard lineWhen the gun smoke settles we'll sing a victory tuneAnd we'll all meet back at the local saloonAnd we'll raise up our glasses against evil forces singingwhiskey for my man, beer for my horsesToby Keith's take on justice…which I agree with.And if you don't …well just don't bitch when they find your sister's head in some refridgerator.
5 February 2009
at 10:12 p.m.
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Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…
As a child beaten by said sister..not such a bad idea actually.
5 February 2009
at 10:37 p.m.
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AjiDeGallina (Anonymous) says…
skinny (Anonymous) says…An eye for an eye!Hang’em!************************wow, I am not against the death penalty, but I find that comment very ignorant for many reasons.1. The Bible continues to say “vengance is mine” Sayeth the Lord…so you are bearing false witness, breaking a commandment if you are trying to say it is Biblical.2. The death penalty is supposed to be (though it is not) a deterrent for others and a last resort when rehabilitation is deemed not possible. It is very clearly NOT supposed to be based on vengance. You fail at American values if you want to change the very foundation of our legal system.3. Hanging has been found to be cruel and unusual punishment in this country based on Constitutional interpretation. As our soldiers fight and die in Iraq and Afghanistan for freedom and democracy, you defy our very own constitution? Traitor.
6 February 2009
at 12:27 a.m.
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notajayhawk (Anonymous) says…
Whether one is for or against the death penalty, attempting to get rid of it because of the cost is a bit ludicrous. If we're only going to do things that don't cost the state much, then what the heck, let's close the prisons altogether - and the jails, and the courts. Think of the savings! (Heck, for that matter, how much do we spend on Medicaid - and education - and…)******************>>> “…the question is what does the death penalty get us that life without parole doesn’t”Years back, when Mario Cuomo was still governor in NY, and still vetoing the legislature's annual attempts to reinstate the death penalty, a female prison guard at Green Haven was raped an murdered by a prisoner. He was already serving life without parole for multiple homicides, so that one was a freebie.
6 February 2009
at 4:40 a.m.
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Kropotkin (Anonymous) says…
There's a man who lives in Rose Hill, near Wichita, who did 21 years for the poison murder of his seven children. He was on death row until the Supreme Court decided Furman v. Georgia, which invalidated the death penalty. He was finally released in 1991 after it was found that the most likely suspect, the baby sitter originally overlooked by police and who had fed them the fatal meal, had killed one husband, possibly two, by poison.
6 February 2009
at 7:39 a.m.
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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…
“Toby Keith's take on justice…which I agree with.”That's a great idea. And we could save a whole lot of money if we just do away with the court system. Police should just shoot anyone that “deserves it” on the spot. The rest could just be put on a chain gang doing gubmint work, which would allow us to fire all other gubmint workers.Life is a lot simpler if you're stupid.
6 February 2009
at 11:50 a.m.
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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…
And you're just the guy to martyr them, right invictus?
6 February 2009
at 7:56 p.m.
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jonas_opines (Anonymous) says…
Seriously Clint, you're like a model for Pavlovian conditioning. Talk point = response. Do try and occasionally actually pay attention, before you embarrass yourself again. /you did, by the way, embarrass yourself, whether you know it or not
6 February 2009
at 11:30 p.m.
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storm (Anonymous) says…
I think we'd save more money and potential grief if they were executed. Just simply, a society's safety (even in prison) is more important than keeping one murderer alive. If it deters others from murdering, that's just a benefit. That said, our justice system needs to be repaired and the punishment by death should always remain.