California's multi billion dollar death sentence

A bill that could have potentially saved hundreds of lives, as well as the State of California billions, was regrettably prevented from moving forwards due to a ‘lack of support’ in the Legislature on Thursday.

Since 1978 California has spent in excess of $4 billion on its death row programme, resulting in 13 executions. And while this money is poured down the penal drain, the state's economy balances on tenterhooks and crime levels continue to rise.

At a time when the Californian State has a noose around its own neck (a budget shortfall of $25 billion) surely one sensible thing would be to save as much money as possible and look for logical cuts. Spending around $170 million each year to keep the death penalty running makes even less sense in this context.

Senator Loni Hancock, Chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, has been trying for several years now to make the public understand that the death penalty programme is massively flawed and a ridiculous waste of tax payer’s dollars. The figures are a stark warning that the cost of taking a human life can add up to millions, when in fact the alternative to Capital Punishment - life imprisonment would save the state around $200 million each year.

Senator Hancock’s bill (SB 490) suggested that this could be achieved, and yet the voters still didn’t see the sense in it. They have to ask themselves why there is a need to execute when reform is on all levels cheaper, effective and more rewarding. California seems to be embroiled in its own weird referendum stance whereby the death penalty can only be reformed or revoked by voters themselves. There are currently 39 eligible crimes for the death penalty, and California's crowded death row halls house an abyss of sadness and apathy. But any hope of reform or optimism is being overshadowed by the apparent public need for death row rot.

The SB 490 bill was introduced in June after a report entitled "Executing the will of the voters? A roadmap to mend or end the California legislatures Multi-Billion-Dollar death penalty debacle", by The Honourable Arthur L. Alarcón, Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and Loyola of Los Angeles Law Professor Paula M. Mitchell. Their report suggested that by 2030 the cost of maintaining the death penalty will rise to £9 billion. In conjunction with this, Senator Loni’s bill was placed in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday, August 25^th and if it had been passed it would have replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment. For now the neccessary steps will be taken to file a ballot intiative for the 2012 general elections. In the meantime you can guarantee that the economic crisis will deepen, crime will continue its steady rise and California will throw millions of dollars in the death row waste bin.