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Journal Articles
Abstract:
Despite the long-term decline in the number of death sentences and the lack of executions,
the cost of the death penalty in North Carolina remains high. To document this
cost, the empirical analysis here focuses on a recent two-year period, comparing actual
costs associated with capital proceedings, with likely costs in the absence of the death
penalty. The conclusion: the state would have spent almost $11 million less each year
on criminal justice activities (including appeals and imprisonment) if the death penalty
had been abolished. Additional criminal justice resources would have been freed up
and available to be redirected to other cases.