"Taxpayers paid between $6 million and $10 million for the defense of Timothy McVeigh."
—Josh Marquis, president of the Oregon District Attorneys' Association and a board member of the National District Attorneys' Association

Capital punishment is an emotional issue for many. Individual opinions can be based on personal experiences and moral views. But another topic that is sometimes debated is cost.

People opposed to capital punishment often cite statistics about the high costs of implementing the death penalty. According to Amnesty International, "California spends an extra $90 million per year on capital punishment. In Florida, each execution costs the state $3.2 million (six times more than incarcerating a prisoner for life). Texas, with the highest execution rate and one of the highest murder rates in the country, spends an estimated $2.3 million per capital case. This is roughly three times the cost of keeping someone in prison for 40 years. A study in Kansas, which recently reinstated the death penalty, showed that a capital trial costs $116,700 more than an ordinary murder trial."

Critics of capital punishment argue that the high costs associated with the death penalty can adversely affect the criminal justice system. Because counties often bear the brunt of the cost of extensive trials and legal action, they fear that money spent to execute prisoners could mean less money for the judicial system and police protection. Many believe that life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is an equitable alternative.

While some proponents of capital punishment argue that accelerating executions and limiting appeals would lower the cost of death penalty cases, critics are concerned that the current system is already flawed and that, without due process, wrongful convictions might increase and result in executions of more innocent suspects. Many fear, in particular, that the defendants who do not have the means to hire private attorneys would suffer most.

"Always remember that: after all the rhetoric that goes on in the legislative assemblies, in the end, when the deck is cast out, it is the poor who are selected to die in this country. In the history of the death penalty, it has always been that way... the death penalty is a poor person's issue."
—Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J