June 8th 2009
California’s Latest Budget Victim: The Dealth Penalty
Q
uite a lot has been written about California’s budget debacle - a $24 billion, growing hole - and its impact on the poor, state employees, our highways and waterways, and the viability of our counties and municipalities (who fear Sacramento will be stealing their surpluses).
But there may be good news in the budget melt-down … if you’re planning on committing a capital crime any time soon. From Steve Greenhut’s column in yesterday’s OC Register:
During a recent budget meeting, [OC District Attorney Tony] Rackauckas was grilled by [OC Supervisor John] Moorlach’s chief of staff, Mario Mainero, over the cost-effectiveness of pursuing the death penalty in so many cases, even though that penalty is virtually never actually imposed in this state. Mainero believes that the D.A.’s office spends unnecessarily on death-penalty prosecutions, a contention certainly up for debate, but at least we are now having important debates about how departments spend their money.
It seems hard to believe that matters of such import would hinge on the number of bucks in the coffer, but then, everything about California nowadays seems a bit hard to believe … unless you factor in the fact that the Dems have complete control of Sacramento.
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Posted in California, Death Penalty | 4 Comments » | 
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Comments
June 9th, 2009 at 6:17 am
Never thought of it before, but it makes sense to me that it would cost more to prosecute a murderer when the death penalty is on the line.
Were I a juror, I’d want as much conclusive evidence as possible before deciding to flip the switch on someone. It takes more time to gather evidence, more time to analyze and prepare for a case, and more court time, none of which is free.
It is sad that we have to make such decisions based on available resources, but that’s what happens when demand for government services exceeds our ability to pay for those services — we start scrimping on essential government services.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Republicans have no one but themselves to blame. Since Pete Wilson decided that a huge voting bloc was the enemy, and Republicans have consistently (and stupidly) jumped on the bandwagon, the party has virtuaaly gauranteed the current mess that massive incompetence has given us. Unless and untill the party, both state and national, recognizes and actively acknowledges that all citizens want basically the same results of governance, and then uses that as the ONLY criteria for voter outreach, then we/they will continue in the wilderness.
June 9th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Francis - I never really thought of carrying out the death penalty as an essential government service before.
Come to think of it, what really constitutes “essential” government services? The way folks answer that question will tell a lot about their politics, to be sure.
June 10th, 2009 at 6:16 am
Laer,
The death penalty is only one aspect of justice, which is one of many essential government services.
But you’re right — not everyone would agree what constitutes essential government services. That said, if folks had to choose 10 services from a list of 100, I’ll bet a fairly consistent top 5 could be achieved. I would call those “essential.”
Mike Williams,
You make no sense whatsoever. Are you commenting on the death penalty or something else?