An expensive federal death penalty trial under way in New York illustrates many of the concerns about such prosecutions. New York is a state that no longer has its own death penalty. Nevertheless, the federal government is seeking a death sentence for Vincent Basciano, who is already serving life without parole. Because the death penalty is being sought, the case has already costs millions of dollars and the final bill will likely be $10 million or more. Moreover, the chief witness against Basciano is another mob figure, Joseph Massino, himself guilty of at least seven murders but who escaped the death penalty because of his cooperation with the government. Jim Dwyer, columnist for the New York Times, pointed out, "Before one syllable was heard from the first witness, the judge had approved payments for Mr. Basciano’s defense approaching $4 million; it is likely that similar costs could be attributed to the team of prosecutors. Now that testimony has begun, his publicly paid defense lawyers, plus investigators, were in court on Tuesday; so were four assistant United States attorneys, along with two F.B.I. agents. In addition to the legal costs, there are administrative expenses in running a trial: 1,000 potential jurors were screened for the case; federal marshals are protecting the turncoat mob boss under tight security; and the jurors hearing the case are anonymous and are being provided with protection and escorts to their homes." In 2010, the judge overseeing Basciano’s trial asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to reconsider seeking the death penalty, given the costs and the fact that the defendant would never be released.
n May 28, the Nevada Senate passed a bill authorizing an audit of the cost of the state's death penalty. By a vote of 11-10, the Senate called for the legislative auditor to compare the costs of prosecution and appeals in capital cases to non-death penalty cases, examining the cost of defense lawyers, juries, psychiatric evaluations, appellate and post-conviction proceedings. The auditor would also examine the cost of an execution, including the costs of facilities and staff. The report would be due Jan. 31, 2013. Nevada has not had an execution since April 2006, and has 77 inmates on death row. The bill originally called for a moratorium on executions, but prison officials said they did not presently have the drugs to carry out an execution anyhow. The bill now goes back to the Assembly.
Jeanne Woodford (pictured), the former director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Warden of San Quentin during 4 executions, recently became the Executive Director of 
George Gascon (pictured), San Francisco's District Attorney and a former chief of police, recently discussed his concerns about California's death penalty. He wrote, "Despite saying that I wouldn't rule out the death penalty as district attorney, I want to make clear that I have serious misgivings concerning the potential for wrongful convictions and the disproportionate impact of the application of the death penalty on racial minorities. Moreover, victims' families are subjected to an emotional roller coaster as they wait decades for justice and closure. I am also concerned about the increasing financial impact that death penalty prosecutions have on our already overburdened criminal justice system." Gascon particularly pointed to the problem of mistake: "Given the irreversibility of the death penalty, the possibility of a wrongful conviction can never be overstated." Read his full op-ed below.
A recent poll conducted by David Binder Research found strong support for commuting all of the sentences of California's 712 death row inmates to life in prison without parole and requring them to pay restitution to the victims' families. Of the 800 voters surveyed, 63% supported the commutations, which would save the state $1 billion over five years. California currently faces a $13 billion budget gap. Voters from across the political spectrum favored the idea of commuting all the state's death sentences and putting the money saved towards public education and law enforcement. Support was highest among independents (70%), followed by Democrats at 64% and Republicans at 58%. The proposal was also popular throughout the state, with Bay Area voters expressing the most support (70%).
A recent article by Terrence P. Dwyer (pictured), retired New York State Police Investigator, and George F. Kain, a police commissioner in Ridgefield, Connecticut, dismissed the notion that the death penalty is needed to protect law enforcement officers. Dwyer and Kain wrote that a majority of police chiefs believe that the death penalty does not deter violent crime and rank the death penalty last in a list of effective tools for fighting crime. "In states like New York, which abolished its death penalty in 2004, or North Carolina, where there has been a de facto moratorium since 2006, the numbers indicate no statistical increase in police officer homicides after the death penalty was repealed or rendered moot through moratorium," the authors wrote. They also encouraged lawmakers to weigh the substantial costs of the death penalty in their decision-making. They stated, "The Connecticut death penalty costs $4 million annually, according to a 2009 estimate by the General Assembly's non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis. While capital cases in Connecticut account for just .06 % of cases in the Public Defender's office, the cost to defend these cases was nearly $3.5 million, over 7 % of the office's entire budget."