How much does crime punishment cost in the U.S?

In 2006, $68,747,203,000 was spent on corrections. The average annual operating cost per state inmate in 2001 was $22,650, or $62.05 per day; among facilities operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, it was $22,632 per inmate, or $62.01 per day.

The average cost of defending a trial in a federal death case is $620,932, about 8 times that of a federal murder case in which the death penalty is not sought. A study found that those defendants whose representation was the least expensive, and thus who received the least amount of attorney and expert time, had an increased probability of receiving a death sentence. Defendants with less than $320,000 in terms of representation costs (the bottom 1/3 of federal capital trials) had a 44% chance of receiving a death sentence at trial. On the other hand, those defendants whose representation costs were higher than $320,000 (the remaining 2/3 of federal capital trials) had only a 19% chance of being sentenced to death. Thus, the study concluded that defendants with low representation costs were more than twice as likely to receive a death sentence. The complete report can be found.

And the average cost to keep somebody in jail for a year is around 45K

It costs over $25,000 per year to keep a person in prison.

In my state, California, processing a death penalty case costs about 11 times what the same case would cost for the alternative of keeping the person in prison for life without the possibility of parole and the majority of those will not be executed. Since 1976, California has had 12 executions (none in the past several years) and adds about 20 people to death row each year. Most deaths on death row are the result of natural causes. Suicide is second. Lethal injection is a distant third. Simple math tells you that the taxpayers are getting a bum deal.

The death penalty costs much more than you would expect. The largest part of the costs are upfront, at the pre trial and trial stages, and they are in play whether or not there is a conviction, let alone a death sentence. Study after study confirms this. Here is part of one report that explains it well:

“The study counted death penalty case costs through to execution and found that the median death penalty case costs $1.26 million. Non-death penalty cases were counted through to the end of incarceration and were found to have a median cost of $740,000. For death penalty cases, the pre-trial and trial level expenses were the most expensive part, 49% of the total cost. The investigation costs for death-sentence cases were about 3 times greater than for non-death cases. The trial costs for death cases were about 16 times greater than for non-death cases ($508,000 for death case; $32,000 for non-death case).” (Kansas: Performance Audit Report: Costs Incurred for Death Penalty Cases: A K-GOAL Audit of the Department of Corrections)

Some of the factors:

• more pre-trial time will be needed to prepare: cases typically take a year to come to trial

• more pre-trial motions will be filed and answered

• more experts will be hired

• twice as many attorneys will be appointed for the defense, and a comparable team for the prosecution

• jurors will have to be individually quizzed on their views about the death penalty, and they are more likely to be sequestered

• two trials instead of one will be conducted: one for guilt and one for punishment

• the trial will be longer: a cost study at Duke University estimated that death penalty trials take 3 to 5 times longer than typical murder trials

Specific cases (California.)

People v. Scott Peterson, Death Penalty Trial

$3.2 Million Total

People v. Rex Allen Krebs Death Penalty Trial

$2.8 Million Total

People v. Cary Stayner, Death Penalty Trial

$2.368 Million Total

People v. Robert Wigley, Non-Death Penalty Trial

$454,000 Total

This data is for cases where the best records are kept.

http://aclunc.org/issues/criminal_justice/death_pe...

First of fall you are not including the high cost of prosecution or corrections prior to conviction. Essential elements.

You can get most crime etc. stats from the DOJ site (bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov) or fbi.gov

1. In 2006, $68,747,203,000 was spent on corrections (http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/tables/exp...

2. don't know off hand, don't care to go searching for you.

3. The average annual operating cost per state inmate in 2001 was $22,650, or $62.05 per day; among facilities operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, it was $22,632 per inmate, or $62.01 per day (http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=16)

"Death Penalty Cost Studies: Saving Costs over LWOP"

http://homicidesurvivors.com/2010/03/21/death-pena...

"Duke (North Carolina) Death Penalty Cost Study: Let's be honest"

http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2009/06/duke-north-c...

(NOTE: A 2009 study, by one of these authors, found that by ending the death penalty NC might save $11 million , or about $0.11/person/month. I have not read it, yet.)