capital punishment costs | people v. burgener

Professor Shaun Martin neatly sums up the fiscal realities of capital punishment in California @ his California Appellate Report blog - "People v. Burgener (Cal. Supreme Ct. - May 7, 2009)" (Posted Tuesday, May 19, 2009):

"I'm telling you this right now: Michael Burgener will die in prison, but it won't be from an antiseptic needle in the arm. At this point, it'll be 40+ years after the conviction before there'd actually be an execution. And the justice of such a penalty -- though understandable in all its individual components -- seems far from clear.

Burgener shot and killed a 7-11 clerk an emptied the cash register of $50. He's not a nice man. He deserves to live the remainder of his life behind bars, and that's what will happen. Why -- at this point -- we're spending the millions and millions of dollars I'm sure is being spent to keep this one going is beyond me.

I know the counterarguments. They're not frivolous. I appreciate them. I truly do. But this one, in my view, you let go."