The death penalty does not seem to deter people from committing murder. States in the South have the highest murder rate, and they account for more than 80% of executions. The Northeast, with less than 1% of executions, also has the lowest murder rate.
But I don't fancy the notion of paying over 30,000 a year for a murdering jackass when we cannot afford to provide health care for people who don't murder other people, or good education for children who need to be educated and nurtured so that a life of crime and murder.
The CA death penalty system costs taxpayers $114 million per year beyond the costs of keeping convicts locked up for life. Taxpayers have paid more than $250 million for *each* of the state's 11 executions. It seems to me that if you eliminate the death penalty, you have more money available for health care, education, that sort of thing.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-12-13 09:07 am (UTC)But I don't fancy the notion of paying over 30,000 a year for a murdering jackass when we cannot afford to provide health care for people who don't murder other people, or good education for children who need to be educated and nurtured so that a life of crime and murder.
The CA death penalty system costs taxpayers $114 million per year beyond the costs of keeping convicts locked up for life. Taxpayers have paid more than $250 million for *each* of the state's 11 executions. It seems to me that if you eliminate the death penalty, you have more money available for health care, education, that sort of thing.