AG Zoeller: Costs of capital punishment merit hard
look by policymakers
Academic study on fiscal considerations of death
penalty discussed at Criminal Justice Summit
SOUTH
BEND, Ind. - With courts and the criminal justice system facing unprecedented
funding burdens during the recession, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said
policymakers should take a hard look at the costs and fiscal impact of capital
punishment cases in Indiana.
Speaking
today at the Criminal Justice Summit at the University of Notre Dame, Zoeller
noted that the expenses involved in conducting a lengthy trial in a capital
murder case can be exorbitant for a county government, including the costs of
death-penalty-qualified defense lawyers, expert witnesses, courthouse security
and lodging for sequestered jurors. And the costs to taxpayers continue to
accumulate during the appeals process that can take 10 years or more to play
out.
Public
defenders represent the offender in seeking to overturn the conviction or death
sentence in appellate courts, while the Attorney General's Office represents the
State in seeking to prevent them from being overturned.
"Each day
that the condemned prisoner's case is up on appeal gives some daily purpose to
his existence. The years on death row must undoubtedly be filled with anxiety,
and hopefully remorse. Meanwhile, the interminable delay prolongs the agony for
the victim's family, leaving them in perpetual limbo and sometimes preventing
them from completing the grieving process," Zoeller said in his remarks to the
summit.
But at a
time of shrinking revenues when the judicial branch has little flexibility to
cut budgets, Zoeller said legislators and policymakers also should look
carefully at cost structures driving the public expense of death penalty cases
at the trial level and appellate level.
"So it is
time that we in the criminal justice system have a candid conversation about the
economic impact of capital punishment in Indiana," Zoeller added. "I don't claim
to know the answers; but as state government's lawyer sworn to uphold the laws
of Indiana, I hope we can trigger a frank discussion of these questions. We
serve the crime victims and our constituents - the taxpayers - best if we
confront a problem directly and objectively."
The
Indiana Attorney General's Office, which conducts several educational and
training events for the legal community each year, organized the Criminal
Justice Summit today at the University of Notre Dame.
One
panelist, economics professor Dr. Anne Morrison Piehl of Rutgers University,
presented her recent academic study on the fiscal considerations of the death
penalty in Indiana. She noted that the Indiana Public Defense
Fund reimburses 50 percent of the defense costs from the trial phase of capital
cases and prioritizes those reimbursements, leaving less funding potentially
available to reimburse local costs for non-capital cases.
Among her study's suggestions: Indiana could develop
stricter limitations on reimbursement for trial expenses -- perhaps by limiting
the number or type of expert witnesses or capping their fees - or develop more
aggressive audit procedures after the fact.
Other
panelists elaborated on death penalty costs and described the procedural
safeguards built into the criminal justice system, including Indiana Supreme
Court Associate Justice Frank Sullivan, Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stan Levco,
Clark County Prosecutor Steven Stewart, St.
Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak and Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys
Council Executive Director Stephen Johnson.
Also
providing perspective were Rick Malone, executive director of the Georgia
Prosecuting Attorneys Council, State Senator John Broden, D-South Bend, State
Senator Joe Zakas, R-Granger, Notre Dame Law School Professor Stephen Smith and
Deputy Attorney General Steve Creason, chief counsel of the AG's Appellate
Division.
Approximately 75 people, mainly attorneys and law students, registered for the
Criminal Justice Summit. Attorneys receive 6.25 hours of free continuing legal
education (CLE).
"Part of
my duty as Attorney General is representing the state in criminal appeals and,
more broadly, representing the criminal justice system. In that capacity I have
the opportunity to bring together some of the best legal minds in our state as a
catalyst to discuss approaches to the challenges we face," Zoeller said.
The law
education event at the University of Notre Dame continues Tuesday with a Civil
Justice Summit that focuses on another topic in the news: the economic, legal
and social impacts of mortgage foreclosures in Indiana. Speakers include Zoeller,
Deputy Attorney General Gabrielle Owens of the AG's Homeowner Protection Unit,
Notre Dame Law School Professor Judith Fox and Valparaiso University Law School
Professor Alan White.
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Here is a
link to the
Executive Summary
of Professor Anne Morrison Piehl's study on the financial impact of
the death penalty.
