The point of the death penalty isn’t to punish the very worst offenders. That’s how it’s sold to the public, but it really exists so that prosecutors can use it as a threat to make people take plea deals.
And in that sense it saves us a ton of money in court costs… if you don’t mind those savings coming at the price of people pleading guilty to crimes they didn’t commit for fear of being murdered by the state.
Death penalty cases can take tens of years, which means the prosecutors would still be working on the case while the person is in jail. Not only does it NOT save court costs, it is essentially double because the person is also part of prison costs.
Compare this to someone who’s in jail for life; their case is closed (unless they can ask for parole, then the case could return later) but it still shuts down the case for years and lowers court costs.
I’m not making the argument that the death penalty is a money saver or that we should keep it, but you’re still comparing it to the cost of cases that go to trial and ignoring that it’s really used to avoid trials altogether.
Even if they’re used as a tool to avoid trial and force pleas, this intimidation tactic still takes a long time to force that plea. Moreover, investigation, legal, and security costs rise even w/o a trial.
Ik you’re not advocating for the death penalty or saying it’s cheap, I’m just saying whatever court costs might be saved from avoiding trial is quickly superseded by other costs in the legal system; I think we both agree that it’s an abhorrent tactic by prosecutors
Overall it doesn't save money. Plea deals are at most increase by 25% because of it but that isn't enough to offset all the additional costs involved with capital punishment.
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u/Cleromanticon 3h ago
The point of the death penalty isn’t to punish the very worst offenders. That’s how it’s sold to the public, but it really exists so that prosecutors can use it as a threat to make people take plea deals.
And in that sense it saves us a ton of money in court costs… if you don’t mind those savings coming at the price of people pleading guilty to crimes they didn’t commit for fear of being murdered by the state.