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March 13, 2003 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Death penalty opponents testify before Senate panel Assemblyman
says it costs more to kill than house inmates CARSON CITY -- Opponents of the death penalty testified Wednesday that capital punishment is morally wrong and extremely expensive. Assemblyman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee the state pays between $2.5 million and $5 million for legal assistance for every inmate who fights a death sentence. But it costs the state $18,920 a year to house each of the 83 inmates on death row at the Ely State Prison, Anderson said. If an inmate spends 40 years in prison, it costs the state $757,000. "That's a fraction of the cost spent on lawyers," Anderson said. "It's a waste of taxpayer dollars on a system ripe with errors." He and Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, urged the committee to support Senate Bill 217, which would abolish capital punishment in Nevada. Twelve states do not have the death penalty. Neal has introduced similar bills almost every session over the past 20 years. Judiciary Committee Chairman Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, did not take a vote on the bill after a two-hour hearing. He said in an interview he believes most Nevadans want to retain the death penalty and that he would not take a vote unless Neal insists on one. Since the death penalty was reinstated in Nevada in 1977, nine inmates have been executed. All have been Caucasian, including one Hispanic. Only one of the executed inmates opposed his execution. Former Nevada Public Defender James Jackson said the costs of defending people in capital cases literally "broke the bank" in some rural counties. He said Pershing County needed state money to pay for a $90,000 trial. An interim legislative committee that held hearings last year recommended against abolishing capital punishment. Sen. Dennis Nolan, who served on that committee, said he has not changed his mind. "There are people of faith who believe there is a purpose for the death penalty," said Nolan, R-Las Vegas, who identified himself as Catholic and cited a biblical verse in support of capital punishment. Nolan said the cost of litigation for death row inmates should not be a factor in deciding whether to abolish capital punishment. He said he witnessed the execution of one inmate, Alvaro Calambro, and read the man's criminal record, which including "putting a crow bar through a girl's ears, from one ear to the other. That's cruel." Throughout the hearing, people with religious backgrounds cited the Bible as being both for and against the death penalty. The Rev. Jane Thompson, an Episcopalian, testified all people are creatures of God and "the taking of human life, for whatever reason, is an affront to God." She said victims can only overcome their grief by "forgiveness and letting go of the anger and hurt and letting their wounds be healed by God." "The taking of another life is probably going to add to their anguish," Thompson added. Carrie Lee, a young woman whose uncle was murdered two years ago in Las Vegas, said he would not have wanted his family to seek vengeance by taking another life. Clark
County Deputy District Attorney Ben Graham admitted once
opposing capital punishment, but now believes "once
in a great while" there are killers who "have
forfeited the dignity of life" by turning life over
to evil. Graham added he is an Episcopalian church leader
in Las Vegas.
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