Will Kansas abolish the death penalty?

There's going to be a debate in the legislature next month on a bill that would do exactly that. (State Sen. Tim Owens of Overland Park has set aside four days for hearings. It'll start Jan. 19.) Supporters are using a different line of argument, though: Namely, that execution costs far too much compared to simply throwing a suspect into prison for life without parole. Steve Six, the Kansas AG, says he opposes the bill because some crimes merit the ultimate punishment.

Comments

[Mainstream Coalition]

This is the ultimate canard. The very people who are to blame for all of the expense now want to use the expense to stop the death penalty. Here's a thought. if they're truly concerned about expense, let's get the death penalty on a fast track. The Carr brothers should have been dead the weekend after their trial as should John Robinson and most of the monsters who received the death penalty.

[D-man]

I don't care since it is so hard to actually get the punishment carried out. I think it would be better to throw away the key in most case, and cheaper too.

[Jon Meyers]

Kansas has had the death penalty since 1973; for unwanted babies and that does not appear to be a priority any more. How sad is it that the state does not stop this mass-murdering of our innocent children? We will all have to answer for this, in front of our Maker.

[winkyb2me]

Maybe you will, Jon, but my conscience is clear.

[D-man]

I don't have a maker, you do. I do have a government I like to keep them separated. As far as killing unborn children goes, I've never seen it done, I've never paid for it, asked for it, promoted it, or been in a position where I could keep someone from doing it.
To put it in other words. I don't care about abortion, and this story has nothing to do with abortion. Maybe someone needs to open a new clinic for you to picket. Good luck forcing your views upon others who don't want to hear it, I'm sure that they either don't care or can't afford to care.

[Susan S]

In reply to Mainstream Coalition- the high costs of the death penalty would not be significantly reduced by fast tracking executions- the largest part of the costs of death penalty cases are upfront and begin to balloon as soon as the prosecutor opts to seek the death penalty. Here's what a Kansas Dept of Corrections report found:

“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)

[clive]

weak,........so weak...

[parkay]

Every criminal execution deters 18 heinous murders, an enormous savings in expense, grief, pain, and heartache for Kansas. We will never give up our God-given right to capital punishment. Throw out the bill. It's the enonomy, stupid, we want jobs, not dangerous, violent killers turned loose on us.

[146]

Susan that was good information and thanks for sharing it. I like to read from people who research things before commenting.

However, I'm not that kind of person and I believe we should kill them the morning after trial. The reality of those stats just indicate how unfair (many people who were not tried under death penalty) their trials were.

If we are going to go strickly by money, then my way seems to make more sense!

[seven]

God didn't give rights, He gave life and free will, then said, "There ya are, have at it. I'll deal with you when you get Home". I doubt He'd give one of His children the right to kill another of His children.

[Ralfred]

I believe once convicted under the death penalty, the case should go directly to the Supreme Court for review. In the mean time, the convicted should be typed for organ transplant and execution should be by salvaging body parts to those in need. In that way the convicted can repay his debt to society by giving others life.