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MEDIA ADVISORY FROM
FLORIDIANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY (FADP.org)
26 NOVEMBER 2001
Contact: Abe Bonowitz - 800-973-6548
FLORIDIANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY (FADP) URGES
LEGISLATURE TO GET 5% OF NEEDED BUDGET CUT FROM DEATH PENALTY
As Florida Legislators travel to Tallahassee to address projected
budget shortfalls, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
calls on them NOT to cut Health Care programs, Juvenile Justice
programs, Education programs, etc., all programs which help to prevent
and reduce crime. Instead, they should get rid of the death penalty.
"More than 5% of the necessary budget cut can be realized simply
by abolishing the death penalty and relying on Florida's alternative
sentence for capital crimes: Life without the possibility of
parole," said Abe Bonowitz, director of the statewide group.
"The death penalty is a fiscally irresponsible government program
which, if it were anything other than a hot-button political issue,
would have been cast aside years ago."
FADP is urging Florida Legislators to consider the following facts:
- According to a poll in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, 55% of
Floridians prefer the alternative of life without parole instead of
the death penalty, when given that option.
- In 1990, The Miami Herald found that, between 1973 and 1988,
Florida executions cost an average of $3.2 million each.
- "Enforcing the death penalty costs Florida $51 million a year
above and beyond what it would cost to punish all first-degree
murderers with life in prison without parole, according to estimates
by the Palm Beach Post. (The Post's figure was derived using
estimates of how much time prosecutors and public defenders spend on
extra work needed in capital cases, at the trial courts and at the
Florida Supreme Court, which devotes approximately half its time to
death penalty cases. The estimate accounts not only for the
relatively few inmates who are actually executed, but accounts for
the time and effort expended on capital defendants who are tried but
convicted of a lesser murder charge, and those whose death sentences
are overturned on appeal. (Palm Beach Post, 1/4/00))"
- 74% of Florida death sentences are overturned on appeal - an
astounding and unacceptable failure rate.
- According to retired Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald
Kogan, the Florida Supreme Court spends 50% of its time on death
penalty cases, which make up about 3% of its case-load.
- According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Center for
Education Statistics, and the National Association of State Budget
Officers, between 1980 and 2000, Florida's prison budget rose 146%,
but its education budget rose only 40%. (see <http://www.motherjones.com/prisons/atlas.html>)
SENT BY:
Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)
800-973-6548
fadp@fadp.org
www.fadp.org
PMB 335, 2603 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy,
Gainesville, FL 32609
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty works for
restorative
justice in the form of effective alternatives to the death penalty.
It
does so by
# supporting and coordinating the work of organizations and
individuals
# educating and energizing the general public and state legislators
# supporting the many persons affected by capital crime and
punishment
# advocating specific legislative improvements
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