The Cost of Life without Parole
By Glenn Barr, Reporter | Posted: Thursday, March 24, 201 1 9:03 am
When jurors opt for life Without parole~known in the justice system as LWOP-rather than the death
penalty for convicted defendants, there are financial consequences for taxpayers.
According to statistics provided by the office of California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, the
current annual cost for maintaining an inmate in a state prison is $47,102. The Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, however, places the number at 544,5 63.
But the alternative-the death penalty-may cost taxpayers even more. Published reports by both the
Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and USA Today say it
costs an additional $90,000 a year, including the cost of appeals, to house prisoners on death row than
in the general inmate population.
But those numbers are not Without their doubters, for two principal reasons. First, in its analysis the
ACLU notes that in California, prisoners typically spend 20 years on death row before they're
executed, their Waits extended by mandatory appeals.
Rather than recognize that the political and legal climate in the United States can evolve to reform the
appeals process, the ACLU appears to accept the legal status quo, advocating LWOP because its costs
are lower.
AGING PRISONERS
Second, nowhere in the article 'does the ACLU acknowledge that as prisoners age and become infirm
they can cost taxpayers two to three times as much to house and care for as younger, healthy
prisoners', as the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports.
Jonathan C. Holeman and Samuel C. Wright, both convicted recently in a nine-year-old Lake
Arrowhead double murder, are both 31 years of age. Using the Legislative Analyst's numbers, if both
were sentenced to life Without parole and lived to the age of 65, the 34-year cost of housing, feeding
and keeping them secure would amount to $1.598 million a piece, Without factoring in the effects of
inflation.
But $1,612 a year might be eliminated from the annual cost, assuming prisoners who could never be
paroled are not enrolled in rehabilitation programs.
However, at an annual cost of $137,102, a prisoner who sits on death row for 20 years could cost
taxpayers a total of $2,742,040 in that time.
Adding to the total cost of LWOP is that the California's prison population is aging. According to an
Associated Press story published in July 2008, California housed 4,805 inmates 60 and older at the
31'211'2014 The Cost of Life Without Parole» Mountain News : Crime Log
end of 2007, about 3 percent of all prisoners.
A decade carrier, the article states, slightly more than 1 percent of prisoners were in that age bracket.
State prison officials expect the number of over-60 inmates to jump by 80 percent by next year, the
article says.
Tougher sentencing laws, Whose effect is to mandate longer Sentences for convicts, are part of the
cause. '
COST BREAKDOWN
According to the Legislative Analyst's figures, it currently cos-ts $19,663 to provide security for
inmates each year; 12,442 to supply them with health care; $7,214 for prison operations like I
maintenance and record-keeping; $3,493 for administration; $2,562 to feed inmates, clothe them and
provide activities for them, including spiritual programs; 1,612 for rehabilitation programs and $1 16
in miscellaneous costs.
Some argue _it would cost less than incarceration to take at-risk youth and put them through college,
and Some Statistics bear that out. _
According to the website talk.collegeconfidentialcom, the current total four-year cost to attend the
University of Southern California, exclusive of personal expenses, is approximately $175,000, or
$43,750 per year.
Depending on how long they live, prisoners on death row may easily cost taxpayers far more than
those held behind bars until they die. But in an economy Where citizens are demanding efficiency and
economies from government at all levels, the possibility of Changes in the legal system that could
shorten stays on death row and expedite executions no longer seems unrealistic.
No matter how the situation ultimately plays out, those who suffer at the hands of violent Criminals
are their initial victims. However, after these criminals begin their incarceration, the citizens Whose
tax dollars support their incarceration for decades become their victims, too.
By Glenn Barr, Reporter | Posted: Thursday, March 24, 201 1 9:03 am
When jurors opt for life Without parole~known in the justice system as LWOP-rather than the death
penalty for convicted defendants, there are financial consequences for taxpayers.
According to statistics provided by the office of California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, the
current annual cost for maintaining an inmate in a state prison is $47,102. The Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, however, places the number at 544,5 63.
But the alternative-the death penalty-may cost taxpayers even more. Published reports by both the
Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and USA Today say it
costs an additional $90,000 a year, including the cost of appeals, to house prisoners on death row than
in the general inmate population.
But those numbers are not Without their doubters, for two principal reasons. First, in its analysis the
ACLU notes that in California, prisoners typically spend 20 years on death row before they're
executed, their Waits extended by mandatory appeals.
Rather than recognize that the political and legal climate in the United States can evolve to reform the
appeals process, the ACLU appears to accept the legal status quo, advocating LWOP because its costs
are lower.
AGING PRISONERS
Second, nowhere in the article 'does the ACLU acknowledge that as prisoners age and become infirm
they can cost taxpayers two to three times as much to house and care for as younger, healthy
prisoners', as the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports.
Jonathan C. Holeman and Samuel C. Wright, both convicted recently in a nine-year-old Lake
Arrowhead double murder, are both 31 years of age. Using the Legislative Analyst's numbers, if both
were sentenced to life Without parole and lived to the age of 65, the 34-year cost of housing, feeding
and keeping them secure would amount to $1.598 million a piece, Without factoring in the effects of
inflation.
But $1,612 a year might be eliminated from the annual cost, assuming prisoners who could never be
paroled are not enrolled in rehabilitation programs.
However, at an annual cost of $137,102, a prisoner who sits on death row for 20 years could cost
taxpayers a total of $2,742,040 in that time.
Adding to the total cost of LWOP is that the California's prison population is aging. According to an
Associated Press story published in July 2008, California housed 4,805 inmates 60 and older at the
31'211'2014 The Cost of Life Without Parole» Mountain News : Crime Log
end of 2007, about 3 percent of all prisoners.
A decade carrier, the article states, slightly more than 1 percent of prisoners were in that age bracket.
State prison officials expect the number of over-60 inmates to jump by 80 percent by next year, the
article says.
Tougher sentencing laws, Whose effect is to mandate longer Sentences for convicts, are part of the
cause. '
COST BREAKDOWN
According to the Legislative Analyst's figures, it currently cos-ts $19,663 to provide security for
inmates each year; 12,442 to supply them with health care; $7,214 for prison operations like I
maintenance and record-keeping; $3,493 for administration; $2,562 to feed inmates, clothe them and
provide activities for them, including spiritual programs; 1,612 for rehabilitation programs and $1 16
in miscellaneous costs.
Some argue _it would cost less than incarceration to take at-risk youth and put them through college,
and Some Statistics bear that out. _
According to the website talk.collegeconfidentialcom, the current total four-year cost to attend the
University of Southern California, exclusive of personal expenses, is approximately $175,000, or
$43,750 per year.
Depending on how long they live, prisoners on death row may easily cost taxpayers far more than
those held behind bars until they die. But in an economy Where citizens are demanding efficiency and
economies from government at all levels, the possibility of Changes in the legal system that could
shorten stays on death row and expedite executions no longer seems unrealistic.
No matter how the situation ultimately plays out, those who suffer at the hands of violent Criminals
are their initial victims. However, after these criminals begin their incarceration, the citizens Whose
tax dollars support their incarceration for decades become their victims, too.