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Dustin (Dusty) Sanchez

R Duffy Wrtg 990
Tues and Thur 5:30
Death Row
Across the United States of America it cost society approximately $529,329.00 per year
to house and provide for a Death Row inmate. A general population inmate will cost
approximately $35,288.60 per year (Henrichson/Delaney). The cost difference is enormous. This
amount of money could be distributed in so many other useful ways. Prisons should not have a
Death Row. The offender should be caught, tried and punished as according to the crime.
Inmates should not be able to continue to appeal their case, live in a cell that we as taxpayers pay
for and continue to delay the healing process for the victim and their family? What is the point?
This immense sum is due to the amount of times the inmate can appeal their case, adding
to the cost of legal representation on both sides of the victim and the inmate. As a taxpayer, we
continue to pay for the inmate to be housed. This cost continues to add up day after day. Many
state representatives would prefer to house an inmate until they have passed away instead of
paying for one appeal after another. Many believe that the death penalty is too easy on the
convicted inmate. Kent Hart assistant federal defend with Capital Habeas Unit of the Utah
Federal Defender Office states Spending the rest of your life in prison is harder than escaping
with a syringe full of potassium chloride to end their life (Hancock).
When the court sentences an inmate to death, the inmate will appeal until he exhausts all
his appeals. The cost to society is an average of $1450.21 per day (Henrichson/Delaney). The
whole process of appeals is very costly, in almost nine out of ten cases it is fruitless (Huddar). It
is just a method of delaying the inevitable. It puts a strain on the economical and human

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resources of the judicial system. If Death Row inmates were replaced with a Life without the
Possibility of Parole inmates, it would cost millions less and also ensures that the public is
protected while eliminating the risk of an irreversible mistake. (Erickson). The money saved
could go towards programs that actually improve our community, by helping educate a
productive member of society, to acquire their GED, obtain a job, feed several hungry people or
provide medical care to someone who is ill, also roads, police and public safety programs, after
school programs and drug and alcohol treatment (Erickson).
The whole process of allowing an inmate to continue to appeal his case is long and drawn
out (Huddar). As the inmate sits in their cell day in and day out it only cost society vast amounts
of money but it also hurts the victim and their families in more than one way. First, the victim
and their families are still paying taxes and helping pay for that inmate to continue to live and
appeal their case, second it continues to leave an open wound to the victim and their family by
having no closure. The death penalty is equated as revenge for pain and suffering that the inmate
inflicted on the victim (Huddar). Some people strongly believe that a person who has taken a life
of another person does not have a right to live. Sentencing such an inmate can give a lot of relief
to the family members of the victim and their loved ones. Helping them feel as if justice has been
served (Huddar).
According to the Vera Institute of Justice the average annual cost per inmate: California
$7,421.00, Kansas $18,207.00, New York $60,076.00, Texas $21,390.00, Utah $29,349.00
(Henrichson/Delaney).
What is the other side to Death Row? Wrongful convictions have been being
overturned since 1973, where more than 130 people have been released from death row due to
evidence supporting their innocence (Buzzle.) It cost three times less to sentence an inmate to

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life in prison without the possibility of parole (Henrichson/Delaney). Are we inhumane as a

society? If we execute a person, there will be no difference between us as a society and the
criminal that is being convicted (Buzzle).
Appeals? No!!! I do not feel I should have to pay taxes to the state to house a Death
Row inmate. Waiting to defend his poor choice, to feed him three times a day, to let him
continue to hurt the victim and their family by delaying the healing process. He chose to commit
the crime and he should pay his debt to society. He has not been a productive member of society.
I should not have to pay for him to remain to be housed, I didnt commit the crime so why
should I have to pay for him to be comfortable in a cell and continue to appeal his case.

Work Cited
Christian, Henrichson, and Delaney Ruth. "The Price of Prison." The Price of Prisons What
Incarceration Costs Taxpayers. Center on Sentencing and Corrections, 20 July 2012. Web. 21
Oct. 2015. <http://www.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/price-of-prisonsupdated-version-021914.pdf>.
Erickson, David. "Death Penalty Focus : The High Cost of the Death Penalty." Death Penalty
Focus : The High Cost of the Death Penalty. Death Penalty Focus, 1993. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
Huddar, Gauri. "Death Penalty Vs. Life in Prison." Death Penalty Vs. Life in Prison. Buzzle.com, 20
Dec. 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
Jacob, Hancock. "Utah Bucking U.S. Death Penalty Trend." Utah Bucking U.S. Death Penalty
Trend | Deseret News. Deseret News, 4 May 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705301233/Utah-bucking-US-death-penaltytrend.html?pg=all>.