Mark Pack

A surprising result of the economic downturn: the death penalty in the USA

By | Thu 12th March 2009 - 10:20 am

CNN reported earlier this month:

Budget concerns force states to reconsider the death penalty
… Amid a time of economic turmoil some legislators in Kansas and elsewhere say the price of justice is too high. They have introduced legislation to take the death penalty off the books over financial concerns…

“Because of the downturn in the national economy, we are facing one of the largest budget deficits in our history,” state Sen. Carolyn McGinn, a Republican, said in an opinion piece posted on TheKansan.com Friday. “What is certain is we are all going to have to look at new and creative ways to fund state and community programs and services.”

The state would save more than $500,000 per case by not seeking the death penalty, McGinn wrote, money that could be used for “prevention programs, community corrections and other programs to decrease future crimes against society.”

Fiscal concerns are just a part of McGinn’s argument. She has also cited the disproportionate rate of minorities that are sentenced to death.

The full article goes on to talk about budget concerns driving possible death penalty repeal in several other states, including New Mexico and Colorado.

Read more by .
This entry was posted in LDVUSA.
Advert

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • Big Tall Tim
    An excellent article Victor on the great work you are doing. It's a great shame people like David can't give credit where credit is due....
  • Scott Rennie
    Couldn’t agree more Karen. It’s the best speech in a generation, and more importantly an opportunity to build common cause on things that matter to us, like...
  • Nigel Jones
    I too thank you for this interesting article. Community has been in decline for decades in most parts of the country, but this seems particularly the case where...
  • David Le Grice
    All whilst playing second fiddle to the Green party of course. And credit for toppling Labour goes almost entirely to them. Something that was completely avoid...
  • Nigel Jones
    Sorry! in the above I meant to say " we should be heard more on NATIONAL issues when we are campaigning locally". How else can people know what we stand for on ...