Which costs more: capital punishment or LWOP? How much more? Why?
Capital punishment or LWOP
A Maryland study found the average cost for a death penalty case, including investigation, trial, appeals, and incarceration, was $3 million, compared to $1.1 million for a capital-eligible case where the death penalty was not sought.
Florida has estimated the true cost of each execution is approximately $3.2 million, which is roughly 6 times what it would cost to keep the person in prison for life.5
California has spent over $4 billion extra on the death penalty since 1978.6
🤔 Why is Capital Punishment So Much More Expensive?
The high cost is driven by the extensive, legally mandated safeguards required to minimize the risk of executing an innocent person—a process often referred to as "Death-is-Different Jurisprudence" due to the finality of the sentence.
The vast majority of the extra expense is concentrated in the pre-trial and trial phases and the mandatory appeals process, not the cost of long-term incarceration.
| Phase | Why Capital Punishment Costs More |
|---|---|
| Legal/Trial | * Longer Trials: Capital trials are significantly longer (often four times longer) due to the complexity of the case and the requirement of a separate penalty phase. |
| * Jury Selection: "Death-qualification" of jurors to ensure they can impose a death sentence is an extremely time-consuming and expensive process. | |
| * More Resources: The state must provide more attorneys (typically two qualified defense attorneys and an investigator), and both sides require more costly expert witnesses (forensic, mental health, mitigation specialists). | |
| Appeals | * Mandatory Appeals: Every death sentence is subject to multiple, automatic layers of state and federal appeals. This process is essential because a high percentage of death sentences are initially overturned due to legal or factual errors, but it can take decades and costs millions. |
| Incarceration | * Death Row Housing: Inmates on death row are typically housed in single cells under higher security (administrative or solitary confinement), which is more expensive than general maximum-security prison housing. |
In essence, taxpayers pay the full cost of the death penalty process for every case where prosecutors seek it, even in the majority of cases that ultimately end in a sentence of life imprisonment or are overturned on appeal.
Sample Answer
The answer is clear: Capital Punishment (the death penalty) costs significantly more than Life Without Parole (LWOP).
The popular misconception that executing a person saves money has been proven wrong by numerous state-level studies.
💰 How Much More?
While exact figures vary by state and the length of the appeals process, the cost difference is substantial and consistent across all studies.
Cost Ratio: Death penalty cases typically cost 2.5 to 10 times more than comparable cases where the maximum sentence is LWOP.
Case Examples (Total Cost per Case):
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