Death Penalty. Katie Schofield John Grib Doug MacDonald . Introduction. “Sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence” Crimes punishable by death are called capital crimes or offences Currently 58 countries practice the death penalty. History.
• The California 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 executions. (L.A. Times, March 6, 2005)
• In Kansas, the costs of capital cases are 70% more expensive than comparable non-capital cases, including the costs of incarceration.
(Kansas Performance Audit Report, December 2003).
• In Maryland, an average death penalty case resulting in a death sentence costs approximately $3 million. The eventual costs to
Maryland taxpayers for cases pursued 1978-1999 will be $186 million. Five executions have resulted. (Urban Institute 2008).