End the Death Penalty in Santa Clara County

Most people are surprised to learn that sentencing people to execution costs far more than condemning them to permanent imprisonment. Relying on the death penalty strains our county's resources and compromises our ability to pursue effective public safety programs - which is especially important in Santa Clara County. As residents of Santa Clara County, we all know that we desperately need more resources for more effective violence prevention and intervention.

The death penalty is costly to Santa Clara County, arbitrary, and unfair.  In fact:

Death penalty trials cost an estimated $1.1 million more than a trial where the District Attorney seeks a sentence of permanent imprisonment.

Housing on death row costs at least $90,000 more per inmate per year than housing in the general prison population, where those sentenced to permanent imprisonment are housed.

Funding for post-conviction prosecution and defense attorneys costs $85,000 per death row inmate per year. Inmates sentenced to permanent imprisonment are not afforded mandatory appeals.

Both defense and prosecution costs are far greater in death penalty trials than in standard murder trials. These expenses come out of the county budget, at the expense of other programs.

There is no way to make death penalty trials less expensive. We have to use every possible protection to make sure we don’t execute innocent people, or sentence people to death for the wrong reasons such as race or poverty.

The County District Attorney decides when to pursue a death sentence. The DA is also an elected official accountable to the voters of the County.

The next election for District Attorney in Santa Clara County will be June 2010. Now is the time to tell the candidates that seeking death sentences is fiscally irresponsible.

Find out what you can do to help end the death penalty at www.santaclaraagainstdeathpenalty.org

Read more about the ACLU of Northern California's work on the Death Penalty.