Economics of Life in Prison vs Death Row

2013 Words9 Pages
Economics of Life in Prison verses Death Row Lisa Baker Three Rivers College Abstract This paper handles the large and unpredicted adverse effect to county budgets imposed by the presence of capital crime trials verses life in prison. The first agenda is to understand the real frequency of the cost of capital convictions, and second is to discover the effects of local economic concern on the level and distribution of public spending and revenues. Trials are costly to county budgets and are carried in part by reducing expenses on highways and police and a large part by increasing our taxes. Each trial causes an increase in county spending by 1.8% and an increase in county revenues of 1.6%, indicating an increase of more than $1.6 billion in both expenses and revenues between 1982 and 1997. The conclusion of this paper states where I stand in view of what I learned. The Economics of Life in Prison verses Death Row In the 1990’s there was a significant change in the funding of insurance programs, up to and including a movement away from federal privileges and towards increasing state and local responsibility for the preservation of a social security net and other public spending. The country faces a related problem when federal funds for ongoing programs, such as police forces, dry up. Finding funds to maintain those programs put a strain on local budgets. (Ortega, 1997). In order to understand the magnitudes of the change of distribution of public spending, we need to understand how economic stress affects state and local budgets. When a shift occurs will they raise taxes? Will they cut back on welfare spending? If taxes are raised, who gets the burden of the increase? How will our bordering counties fair? How long will the changes last? How does it affect the resident of that county? The shift in the control of funds from the federal government to the
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