In Louisiana, 64% of capital sentences were reversed by higher courts between 1976 and 1995. In the last ten years, 50% of capital cases have been sent back for a new trial from federal courts. Such a high reversal rate not only exposes the inherent flaws in the administration of the death penalty, it takes away the surety of a jury’s verdict from murder victims’ families.

Innocent People Are At Risk of Being Executed

Louisiana has one of the highest exoneration rates in the country. The appeals that death row inmates receive are constitutionally guaranteed; however, to try and shorten them is to make it easier for us to execute an innocent man.

Damon, an hour after his release.

Damon, an hour after his release in 2012.

  • Johnny Ross was exonerated in 1981 after six years on death row.
  • Curtis Kyles was exonerated in 1998 after 14 years on death row.
  •  Shareef Cousin was exonerated in 1999 after 3 years on death row.
  • Michael Graham and Albert Burrell were exonerated in 2000 after 13 years on death row.
  •  John Thompson was exonerated in 2003 after 18 years on death row.
  •  Dan Bright was exonerated in 2004 after 8 years on death row.
  •  Ryan Matthews was exonerated in 2004 after 5 years on death row.
  • Damon Thibodeaux was exonerated in 2012 after 15 years on death row.

DNA only contributed to the release of one of these men. It was largely other kinds of evidence that had to be uncovered to prove these people’s innocence. Around the country, concerns linger that states have already executed innocent men.

The death penalty is costly and provides little return

Despite the common misconception that the death penalty saves money because executed defendants no longer have to be cared for at the state’s expense, it is well established that the cost of pursuing the death penalty is far greater than the costs of pursuing a life-without-parole sentence for murder. Richard Dieter, director of the non-partisan Death Penalty Information Center, explains that it costs millions of dollars to prop up a death penalty system that provides next-to-no return:

“A typical state has hundreds of cases that are eligible for the death penalty.  A formal capital prosecution will be undertaken in less than half of these cases; much fewer will go to trial; only some will be sentenced to death; and very, very few will survive appeals and result in an execution.”

There is a range of extra costs arising from death penalty prosecutions in Louisiana:

  • Attorneys: Because capital defendants in Louisiana are mostly indigent, the state pays for defense costs that arise in the course of capital trials and appeals in addition to costs borne by the government. Minimum standards set by the U.S. Supreme Court require two capitally-certified attorneys to work death penalty trials, and each attorney should spend about 2,500 hours leading up to and including trials. Attorney General Buddy Caldwell recently estimated that it costs ten times more to pursue a capital case to trial than a first-degree murder case with a sentence of life-without-parole.
  • Protecting against the risk of wrongful conviction: The U.S. Supreme Court requires a lengthy appeals process for capital cases in order to ensure “heightened reliability.” Any cut to the appeals process exacerbates the risk that an innocent person will be executed. Louisiana has one of the highest exoneration rates in the country and many of those exonerees were unable to prove their innocence until the late stages of their appeals.
  • Experts: At both the trial level and on appeal, capital cases require the use of experts in forensics, ballistics, mental health and psychiatry, etc.  Kevan Brumfield, who has been on Louisiana’s death row since the mid-90’s, was recently evaluated to determine if he is mentally retarded and therefore, under the Constitution, ineligible for the death penalty. East Baton Rouge spent $38,000 – the salary of an entry-level East Baton Rouge police officer – for two psychiatrists to evaluate the defendant in post-conviction proceedings, 15 years after his trial. Brumfield was ruled mentally retarded by a district court earlier this year and his death sentence was overturned.
  • Capital juries: Jury selection takes significantly longer in capital trials because jurors must be “death-qualified”, taking more time in questioning and requiring more panels of jurors. Juries are also sequestered in capital cases, creating expenses for hotel accommodation, food and transportation for the duration of the trial, which often lasts 2-3 times longer than a life-without-parole murder trial.
  • Housing: The cost to house someone on death row is far higher than keeping someone in the general population. The Louisiana Department of Corrections recently stated in the Baton Rouge Advocate that it costs an additional $17,000 per year to house a single inmate in a cell in isolation. Therefore, a conservative estimate is that it costs Louisiana $1.5 million more each year to house death row inmates at Angola than if they were housed in the same conditions as other convicted first-degree murderers.

For more information on cost, see the Testimony of Richard C. Dieter, Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center, before the Kentucky Standing Committee on Judiciary Hearings on the Costs of the Death Penalty (Frankfort, March 1, 2012).

The lack of ‘return’

In Louisiana, 64% of capital sentences were reversed by higher courts between 1976 and 1995. In the last ten years, 50% of capital cases have been sent back for a new trial from federal courts. Such a high reversal rate not only exposes the inherent flaws in the administration of the death penalty, it takes away the surety of a jury’s verdict from murder victims’ families.

It is clear that our current death penalty system, however well intentioned, is not addressing the costs of homicide in our state. It does not have the deterrent effect we hope for; instead of providing justice and healing for victims’ families it drags them through seemingly endless court processes that rarely end in executions; and it thwarts front-end efforts to reduce violent crime in our local communities by diverting resources away from law enforcement agencies.

Rather than address the cost of crime, our broken death penalty system compounds it.

Diminishing All of Us

For more information about the administration of Louisiana’s death penalty and possible alternatives that would more effectively address homicide, we invite you to read Diminishing All of Us: The Death Penalty in Louisiana.