Pursuing the
Death Penalty:
Costs & Public Attitudes
2017 Working Group Findings
In June 2016, CCJJ directed the creation of a working
group to study the death penalty in Utah. CCJJ tasked
the working group with examining:
(1) current statutory aggravators
(2) costs
(3) public attitude
(4) victims' rights
(5) other available data
Background
The death penalty was struck down in 1972 by the Court in
Furman v. Georgia based on the Eighth and Fourteenth
Amendments' prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment
and the death penalty's seemingly random, inconsistent application.
Response to the death penalty moratorium after the Furman decision
was two-fold, some states made the death penalty mandatory, which
was subsequently struck down in Woodson v. North Carolina (1976),
and other states, including Utah, created new death penalty
statutes instructing jurors to consider a list of aggravating
factors in sentencing.
In Gregg v. Georgia (1976) the revised death penalty statute
included ten aggravating factors juries had to consider. The Court
noted that the role of aggravating factors is to narrow the group of
individuals that are death-eligible, and to quell the death penalty's
"arbitrary or capricious" use.
After the Gregg ruling, the Godfrey (1980) decision reasoned that "if
a state wish[ ed] to authorize capital punishment it has the
constitutional responsibility to tailor and apply its law in a manner
that avoids the arbitrary and capricious infliction of the death
penalty."Based on the Court's decisions, a significant aspect of
statutory aggravators is to define the scope of capital punishment.
Since 1973, however, aggravators for capital murder have
experienced continual growth.
Utah currently includes
over 60 circumstances
including subcategories that qualify an
individual for this penalty, and the list
continues to grow...
After a thorough examination of aggravating factors,
the working group did not come to a consensus on
further limiting or changing
the aggravating factors for capital punishment
sentencing.
Let's focus on costs.
Estimating the full costs
associated with capital
murder is complex.
Research questions around cost centers on whether a case
that seeks the death penalty imposes more taxpayer cost
on the system than a case where the death penalty is not
sought.
Taxpayer costs are tangible costs imposed on the criminal
justice system and involve expenditures related to
- prosecution, defense & appeals
- court time
- jail and prison time &
- execution
What are Taxpayer costs?
Cost
Literature
are typically comparative with the focus
on estimating relative cost differences
Most studies
in comparison to a life without parole
sentence, is the cost avoidance
associated with life-long incarceration.
Argument for
increased expenditures related to the
trial and the lengthy appeal process.
Argument against
Additional cost of pursuing the death penalty vs life w/o parole
across 15 studies
Colorado
Arizona
Idaho
Nevada
Connecticut
North Carolina
Indiana
Kansas
Nevada
Tennessee
Oregon
Washington
California
Nebraska
Maryland
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
Average additional cost
across studies: ~$748,415
Source: Collins et al. (2017) in 2020 dollars
The expenses included vary across studies, and there is a
positive association between the comprehensiveness of the
study and the cost estimate produced. The conclusion that
may be drawn from the summary by Collins and colleagues
is that costs are higher when the death penalty is
pursued.
2012 Utah
Cost Report
Attorney General, Courts, Corrections,
Board of Pardons and Parole, and General Fund
expenditures related to the Post Conviction
Indigent Defense Fund.
State estimates
01
Prosecution and defense, jail incarceration, and
costs paid by most counties to the State
Indigent Defense Capital Trust Fund.
Local estimates
02
$527,100
$1,133,800
$1,660,900
incremental impact of one death penalty
case from trial to execution
State Local
1,250,000
1,000,000
750,000
500,000
250,000
0
A later report used cost estimates from the 2012
report along with some additional costs
1997-2016, state and
local expenses totaled
almost $40 million.
estimated costs
01
165 death-elgible with only
two which have resulted in
death sentences.
eligible cases
02
$237,900 per case above
the cost of a first degree
murder case.
interpretation
03
An internal analysis was also completed of State
financial records related to the actual payments
made between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2017
A total of$677,265
(an average of $96,752 per year) was
paid on behalf of eleven individuals
previously convicted of a capital
offense and sentenced to death.
Post Conviction Indigent
Defense Fund payments
01
a total of $3,207,880
(an average of $458,269 per year)
was paid on behalf of 21 individuals
for capital defense costs in counties
participating in this program.
State Indigent Defense Capital
Trust Fund payments
02
Public
Views
support for the death penalty
50%
Nationally
80% 55%
1990's 20201970's
support for the death penalty, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates
67%
Utah
52% 71%
February 2016 September 2016November 2015
support to replace the death penalty, conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP)
50%
Utah
54%
January 2017February 2016
In summary, with somewhat discrepant
recent results such as these, public
support for the death penalty in Utah is
declining over previous highs, based on
national data cited above and consistently
lower support from younger respondents in the Utah polls.
Take
Aways
Cost of pursuing the
death penalty is
higher than life in
prison without
parole.
Cost
Implications
Support for the
death penalty has
generally been
higher in Utah.
Utah
View
Support for the
death penalty has
declined nationally
in recent years.
National
View
Additional cost of
pursuing the death
penalty in Utah has
been estimated to
be > $1.5 M per case.
Utah
Estimates
Link to Full Report
Working Group Members
Spencer Austin, Chief Criminal Deputy, Utah Attorney General's Office
Paul Boyden, Deputy District Attorney, Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office
Will Carlson, Deputy District Attorney, Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office
Ralph Dellapiana, Attorney, Salt Lake Legal Defender Association
Melanie Haney, Capital Litigation Research Attorney, Judicial Branch
Gary Heward, Chief Deputy, Weber County Attorney's Office
Marina Lowe, Legislative and Policy Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union of Utah
Richard Mauro, Executive Director, Salt Lake Legal Defender Association
Angela Micklos, Member, Board of Pardons and Parole
Mark Moffat, Attorney, Partner, Brown, Bradshaw & Moffat
Heidi Nestel, Executive Director, Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic
Andrew Peterson, Assistant Attorney General, Utah Attorney General's Office
Jerry Pope, Division of Institutional Operations, Department of Corrections
Ron Gordon, Executive Director
Holly Langton, Policy Analyst
Sofia Nystroem, Research Consultant
Angelo Perillo, Data Coordinator
Dr. Ben Peterson, Director, Research and Data
Dave Walsh, Deputy Director
CCJJ Staff
