First of all it is not a fact that executing someone costs more than keeping them alive. The high cost is in the pretrial and during trial ofa capital case
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From amnesty international - The greatest costs associated with the death penalty occur prior to and during trial, not in post-conviction proceedings. Even if all post-conviction proceedings (appeals) were abolished, the death penalty would still be more expensive than alternative sentences.
Trials in which the prosecutor is seeking a death sentence have two separate and distinct phases: conviction (guilt/innocence) and sentencing. Special motions and extra time for jury selection typically precede such trials.
More investigative costs are generally incurred in capital cases, particularly by the prosecution.
When death penalty trials result in a verdict less than death or are reversed, taxpayers first incur all the extra costs of capital pretrial and trial proceedings and must then also pay either for the cost of incarcerating the prisoner for life or the costs of a retrial (which often leads to a life sentence).
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Now I understand that back in the 60's-80's there were people wrongfully convicted, and no those people should not be executed. But today, anyone convicted by DNA or Video evidence that is 99.99% correct should be executed within 6 months. California has only executed 12 people since 1976. We need to speed up the process.
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from sfgate.com - California has the most inmates awaiting execution -- 586 at the end of 2000 -- mainly because of its massive population, said Frank Zimring, a University of California, Berkeley, law professor who has studied California prisons for more than 20 years.
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There is probably over 600-700 now. I doubt that 100+ of them are innocent, I really doubt that 5 of them are innocent, that's <1%. Now I might be sick and twisted on this but yes, I think that would be an acceptable loss if it would mean a reduction in violent crime and possibly save thousands of other innocent people killed, raped and mosested every year.
Like I said before, our justice system is fucked right now. The process of a capital trial should not take 2-3 years. I've sat in court as a witness ALL FUCKING DAY before and not even taken the stand. When I sat on the murder trial it took about a month and I swear we sat in the hallway more than we were in the courtroom. If the justice system was more efficient it wouldn't cost more for a capital case than keeping someone in prison for life.