The Death Penalty's Bankruptcy

Many of you may know the statistics on the economic cost of the death penalty in various states (which is invariably higher everywhere than life without parole) but you may not realize just how high a financial cost capital cases can carry and what kind of impact it can have on the judicial system.

A case in Georgia has bankrupted the public defenders office, forcing Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller to push jury selection back to September 10th. The Georgia Public defender Standards Council can no longer afford to pay Nichols' representation which means that any continued attempts at trial would likely be considered unconstitutional as all accused are entitled to public defense, especially so in the case of a looming death sentence.

So, we again ask ourselves, how much more is society willing to pay to kill someone rather than lock them up?

Here in Indiana, we pay 38% more to execute someone than lock them up for life without parole. Florida spends $51 million more each year, California spends a whopping $90 million annually, and Texas pays three times the cost of life imprisonment for capital cases.

What makes the DA's decision to purse the death penalty even more zealous and reckless is the fact that Nichols has offered to plead guilty as long as the death penalty is taken off the table as a possible sentence. How much is it worth to the taxpayers to see him killed rather than imprisoned for life? About $1.4 million thus far.

It's incredible that even when the moral and civil costs of the death penalty are put aside, the economic and judicial costs still point to a bankrupt system.

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ABA Indiana Report Breakdown

The report sitting in front of me is a veritable gold mine of information regarding the death penalty in Indiana; a wealth of knowledge which points to the inevitable conclusion that a moratorium on executions is the way to go. However, the Indiana Death Penalty Assessment Report, issued recently by the American Bar Association, is also 318 pages long (not including the executive summary and appendices). The summary alone is about 30 pages, more reading than most of you are likely willing to venture into unless you're seriously studying the death penalty in Indiana.

So, as a service to you, the readers of this blog, I will do my best to read and deliver the essential statistics and analysis of the ABA report's 13 chapters. Likely I'll be going at the pace of one-two per week so it should be easy to keep up. There's lots of information here that will likely serve as the foundation of a renewed push for a moratorium here in Indiana and most of the stats speak for themselves.

Check back soon for my breakdown and excerpts of Chapter 1 which addresses the history and current death penalty system here in Indiana.

The full report can be found here on the ABA's website.

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Taking a Personal Stance Against the Death Penalty

Individual opponents to the death penalty, as they are often not directly impacted by the continuing presence of capital punishment in the US, are often left without the means to personally take a stance on the issue. As citizens of a country and of states that still impose the punishment, they are being counted as implicit supporters, even while acting against capital punishment.

An organization started by a group of Notre Dame students in 2005 offers an opportunity to make a bold statement on an individual level: If I were murdered, I would not want my killer to be subject to the death penalty.

The Signers Movement promotes the Declaration of Life, a document put forth by the Cherish Life Circle, a group founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1993.

The full text of the Signers.org declaration reads as follows:

I hereby declare that should I die as a result of a violent crime, I request that the person or persons found guilty of homicide for my killing not be subject to or put in jeopardy of the death penalty under any circumstances, no matter how heinous their crime or how much I may have suffered.

Visit the Signers website to join the list and visibly uphold your personal convictions against the death penalty.

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Chinese Law Agencies Urge More Caution

China's four major law enforcement agencies, the Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Justice, called for more cautious handling of death penalty cases in a jointly issued document on Sunday.

"Our country still cannot abolish the death penalty but should gradually reduce its application," the statement said. "But where there is a possibility someone should not be executed [due to possibility of innocence], then without exception the person should not be killed."

The statement indicated that China cannot entirely abolish the death penalty, but took major steps toward ensuring that "each death sentence is made in a fair way." The agencies asked law enforcement officials to strictly obey laws in identifying facts, collecting evidence, dealing with procedures and adopting punishments. The document especially sought to prevent law enforcement officials from inquisition by torture and extorting confession, going as far as noting the human rights of criminals.

Asserting such principles is a big step for China's judicial system, which executes more people than any other nation in the world. China revised its death penalty laws last year, mandating the Supreme People's Court to review any death sentences handed down. The country has been under pressure to take a closer look at its policies after China's deputy chief prosecutor revealed that almost every wrongful conviction in recent years has been the result of torture and intensive interrogation techniques.

See the AP story here: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070312/D8NQICPG0.html

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X-Row: Where Common Sense Goes to Die

Conversations with death row inmates are never really as casual or pedestrian as they would appear to be on a simple written transcript. In fact, it's when the topic is the most common or mundane that it always hits me that the person I'm talking to has committed a horrible crime; a crime horrible enough that the state has sent them to death row to await execution.

My latest visit left me --as these visits usually do-- with so many more questions than answers: What does it feel like to wake up in a prison cell? What is it like to wake up missing a part of your family because they've been murdered? How can these two different sides of the equation be reconciled? What is this system of capital punishment supposed to achieve in all this?

For some clarity, I turn to these simple facts:

My friend on death row killed people.

He is sorry for this every day; at times agonizing over his crimes.

He wants to learn and ultimately to educate others about his mistakes and the dangers of drug use. He wants to give back to society somehow in an effort to try and repay his debt to society.

The state, on the other hand, is going to spend more taxpayer money and judicial resources to fight his every appeal until they've killed him.

Does this make any sense? Does it make any sense whatsoever that this guy who has done something terrible and wants to attempt to make up for it is being obstructed from doing so? Does it make any sense that the state is pouring tons of money into trying to kill this guy that they have safely locked up and that gives me a handshake and hug each time I visit?

He has a debt to pay. Killing him would be the easy way out. Let's make him write an autobiography about how drugs destroyed his life and pitched him into prison. Let's make him tell his story about how he wakes up each day with the guilt and pain that only a repentant murderer can know. Let's force him to invent a constructive means of reducing recidivism; a program built from the perspective of a repeat offender.

Make him pay with his life, not with his death.

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Indiana Loses 'the conscience of the General Assembly'

This past Sunday, Indiana Senator Anita Bowser of Michigan City died in a hospice in Indianapolis.

Senator Bowser was consistently a fierce critic of the death penalty and was at the forefront of working towards ending its use in Indiana. She managed to raise the minimum age for death penalty offenders to 18 and was working towards ending execution of the mentally ill during the current legislative session.

She will be greatly missed.

It nows falls upon others in the Indiana Senate to take up the banner of the noble causes which she furthered during her tenure. Hopefully, her bravery and passion has inspired others to take such strong stances against the death penalty within the legislature. There would be no greater tribute to Senator Bowser than the elimination of the death penalty.

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Montana Senate Votes for Abolition

Kudos to the Montana Senate which recently voted for abolition of the death penalty in their state. Senators cited innocence, cost and pro-life ethic among their reasons for supporting the abolition. The bill now faces a final vote and will go to the House for consideration.

As we continue to see the wave of moratoriums and legislative moves towards abolition, we can only hope that Indiana soon gets caught up in serious debate over the death penalty before faced with another execution.

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International Death Penalty Abolition Day

Today, March 1st, marks the anniversary of Michigan becoming the first US state and English-speaking territory worldwide to abolish the death penalty back in 1847. This action has its roots in the wrongful execution of a Detroit native based on circumstantial evidence in 1828. Seven years after his execution, his ex-roommate confessed to the crime on his death bed. This lead to the abolition of the death penalty in Michigan being the first act of the legislature upon Michigan becoming a state in 1847.

We hope that someday soon, we can celebrate the same accomplishment here in Indiana.

However, until then, we will honor this holiday by holding our committee meetings at the CSC beginning at 6:30. Click here for the posted committee schedule. We hope to see you there.

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