A quarter century of (T)executions

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has this article marking a notable date in the history of Texas justice. The piece is entitled “Texas reaches milestone: 25 years, 405 execution,” and the paper has these additional companion pieces: an item headlined “Questions, answers about the death penalty“; an editorial entitled “The long green mile of the death penalty“; and an op-ed entitled “The first to die by injection.”  Thanks to this post at Grits, I see that the Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville is having an event to mark this deadly anniversary.

Disappointingly, but not surprisingly, none of this coverage explores the economic costs to Texas taxpayers for the state’s capital punishment system.  Notably, a 2005 study indicated that the State of New Jersey spent more than $250 million on capital punishment since it was reinstated in that state.  Given the much larger number of capital prosecutions (but also likely a much smaller per case cost), it seems fair to estimate that Texas taxpayers have spent more than $1 billion on the state’s capital justice system. 

Thanks to How Appealing for the links to these pieces and lots of other death penalty stories.