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How much is a death worth?
http://x404.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=16008		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  paulzolo [ Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:14 pm ]
Post subject:  How much is a death worth?
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Quote:
The cost of lethal injection drugs used in the US to kill criminals on death row has risen dramatically over the past year. The increase comes as their manufacturers move to prevent them being used in executions.

The state of Texas is scheduled to spend $1,286.86 (£811) to kill Keith Thurmond on Wednesday night.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17210285

This is interesting. It seems that the cost may erode the use of the death penalty in the USA instead of any moral objections.

Quote:
The cost of the death drugs has risen 15-fold since 2010, when they cost the state $86 (£55).

That is because the drug formerly used to sedate the patient, thiopental sodium, is no longer available, having been pulled off the market in 2010.

As a result, Texas and several other states switched to another sedative, pentobarbital. The drug is significantly more expensive - and it may soon become impossible for capital punishment prisons to purchase.
Author:  JJW009 [ Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
Surely still cheaper than the cost of keeping them alive indefinitely?
Author:  belchingmatt [ Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
The cost of killing them is massive once you take into account legal fees over an easy 10 year period. If it is therefore cheaper to keep them alive in prison for life than to execute them then it should be an easy decision to make. I don't even see why the cost of the actual execution has been considered here at all.
Author:  l3v1ck [ Wed Mar 07, 2012 8:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
Just make them do hard labour for life.
There's no killing involved so less appeals and lower costs, they'd be doing something useful for society and it would be seen as a harsh punishment and might just put people off murder (though having said that the death penalty never did).
Author:  JJW009 [ Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
l3v1ck wrote:
Just make them do hard labour for life.
There's no killing involved so less appeals and lower costs, they'd be doing something useful for society

2 reasons.

Firstly, depending on what you mean by "hard labour" then I think it's probably against international law.

Secondly, the use of slave labour gives them unfair economic. If they're sowing mail sacks, they'll undercut the existing mail sack supplier who will go out of business.
Author:  l3v1ck [ Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
JJW009 wrote:
Firstly, depending on what you mean by "hard labour" then I think it's probably against international law.
Don't the yanks have prisoners digging drainage ditches next to roads etc. I'm not talking about being chained to a rock with a hammer.
Author:  lumbthelesser [ Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
JJW009 wrote:
Secondly, the use of slave labour gives them unfair economic. If they're sowing mail sacks, they'll undercut the existing mail sack supplier who will go out of business.

TBH, it probably won't dent China's revenue from exports that much :-P
Author:  MrStevenRogers [ Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
a rope and gallows are cheap and can be used time and time again ...
Author:  paulzolo [ Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
MrStevenRogers wrote:
a rope and gallows are cheap and can be used time and time again ...


The drugs and actual cost of killing the person is a drop in the ocean when compared to the legal costs that a prisoner goes through before the deed is done. They have to be sure that they are 100% certain that the person to be executed carried out the crime. In some cases, prisoners on death row have been there for over 20 years. There is a big cost for that, not just in various hearings, appeals, etc. but also in keeping them.

Might as well just give a life sentence and be done with it. It would be cheaper.
Author:  jonlumb [ Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
JJW009 wrote:
Secondly, the use of slave labour gives them unfair economic. If they're sowing mail sacks, they'll undercut the existing mail sack supplier who will go out of business.


There's already a massive amount of that going on in America. I don't have an exhaustive list, but there are certain areas where the prison service has a complete monopoly due to their non-existent labour costs. The only one I can remember off the top of my head is the making of number plates for cars, but the program I saw on the subject did list a fair few other things.
Author:  paulzolo [ Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
jonlumb wrote:
JJW009 wrote:
Secondly, the use of slave labour gives them unfair economic. If they're sowing mail sacks, they'll undercut the existing mail sack supplier who will go out of business.


There's already a massive amount of that going on in America. I don't have an exhaustive list, but there are certain areas where the prison service has a complete monopoly due to their non-existent labour costs. The only one I can remember off the top of my head is the making of number plates for cars, but the program I saw on the subject did list a fair few other things.



Was that QI? They certainly alluded to the fact that the USA has a massive slave labour population due to the high prison population and the work prisoners do for practically nothing.

EDIT:

YouTubery of the clip I’m referring to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScBC2nZ1 ... re=related
Author:  HeatherKay [ Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
A lot of US prisons are run by private companies. It actually pays them to ensure they have a regular flow of felons in order to maintain their profits and pay their directors and shareholders.

I wonder how long it'll be before it is mooted here. There's already talk of putting routine police work out to tender. I don't want to live in a country where every public service can be had for the right price, yet it seems to be the way we're headed whatever we think about it. :|
Author:  paulzolo [ Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How much is a death worth?
HeatherKay wrote:
A lot of US prisons are run by private companies. It actually pays them to ensure they have a regular flow of felons in order to maintain their profits and pay their directors and shareholders.

I wonder how long it'll be before it is mooted here. There's already talk of putting routine police work out to tender. I don't want to live in a country where every public service can be had for the right price, yet it seems to be the way we're headed whatever we think about it. :|


You know the Tories don’t like the public sector at all, and if they had their way it would not exist at all. If there’s no way to make a profit from it, they just aren’t interested.
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