What is the worth of a human life?
The Maryland Death Penalty Commission attempted to answer that question Tuesday by weighing the costs, both fiscal and emotional, of taking a convict’s life compared with locking that person away forever.
The 23-member panel, which was convened in June by Gov. Martin O’Malley, is considering whether to repeal capital punishment based on racial and jurisdictional disparities in death sentences, the risk of executing innocent people and the costs associated with prosecuting capital punishment cases.
The first of several deliberation hearings began Tuesday with a discussion of whether executions are more cost-effective for taxpayers than housing a convict in state prison facilities for the remainder of his or her life.
Commission Chairman Benjamin Civiletti, who was U.S. attorney general during the Carter administration, told the panel, “It’s a mythical argument to think that life without parole costs so much more than executions.”
The cost of housing a prisoner with a life sentence is between $25,000 and $30,000, which is comparable to housing a general population prisoner, said Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services Gary Maynard.
Del. Sandy Rosenberg, of Baltimore City, argued the financial effect of capital punishment cases is evident in the trial phase because it costs about $3 million, compared with the $1.1 million for a typical murder trial without the death penalty, according to a study presented to the panel.
“The cost clearly weighs against continuing the death penalty,” Rosenberg said. “We can do far more to increase and improve public safety if funds are used for other criminal justice undertakings.”
Rosenberg suggested eliminating the death penalty to free up funding to provide services for surviving family members of victims.
The cost is about more than money, said Oliver Smith, who is the father of a murder victim. Defendants who are given death sentences are afforded numerous appeals, often dragging out court hearings over years and denying the victim’s family closure, Smith said.
“I consider it an obligation to my son to go to court and face the people that murdered my son, and I’ll do it until the day I die, which I’m now finding out may be the case,” Smith said.
Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger, who is an advocate of capital punishment, said, “Life without parole doesn’t mean people stop coming to court,” because the defendant can still file numerous appeals.
He added that Maryland already uses great discretion in seeking the death penalty. He said only five people have been executed since 1976.
The commission will hold several more meetings to discuss testimony before submitting a final report of recommendations on Dec. 15 to the governor.
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