“PRISONS, COST OF EXECUTIONS”
By Dr. Hoyt W.
Allen, Jr.
On February 19, 2002
John W. Byre, Jr.
was executed for
killing a Cincinnati
area convenience
store clerk on April
17, 1983. The
Columbus, OH
Dispatch stated on
June 1, 2002 that it
had cost the state
of Ohio at least
$534,051 to defend
Byrd, $64,084 to
prosecute him, and
$6,660 to execute
him. Then it cost an
additional $182,000
to imprison Byrd
since 1991 (the
earliest year that
such estimates were
available). Thus,
the total cost of
Byrd’s execution was
$786,735.
More than two-thirds
of the execution
cost was holiday pay
for 20 prison
employees. Extra
prison employees
were called in to
work on President’s
Day, the day Byrd
was transferred from
Mansfield, OH to
Lucasville, OH.
The costliest
capital-punishment
case in recent
history involved
Cleveland killer
Wilford Berry,
nicknamed “the
Volunteer” because
he waived his legal
appeals. The
Attorney General’s
Office spent about
$900,000 to argue
for Berry’s
execution, which
took place on
February 19, 1999.
This was Ohio’s
first in 36 years.
Three more
executions have
followed, including
Byrd’s. At this
writing, complete
figures have not
been compiled for
the most recent
execution, that of
Alton Coleman on
April 26, 2002. It
currently costs an
average of $22,045
annually to imprison
a death row inmate
in Ohio.
Some of us have
wondered why we tax
payers are required
to “fit the bill” to
remove from our
midst those who have
no respect for human
life. Others of us
have said, if we
returned to the
“good old days” such
as hanging - that
would be a great
deal cheaper. See
the KYOWVA Web Page;
www.kyowva.com and
Articles By Bro.
Hoyt, and then “One
Conservative’s View
Of A Maximum
Security Prison”.
Plainly, don’t get
short changed. Be
ready to meet our
Maker. The Bible
teaches that to
avoid hell and gain
heaven - one must:
1) Believe In Jesus
As Savior (Acts
16:31) 2) Repent Of
Sins (Acts 17:30) 3)
Confess Christ
Audibly (Acts 8:37)
4) Be Baptized In
Water (Acts 2:38) 5)
Live A Christian
Life (Acts 14:22)
KYOWVA Evangelistic
Association * 1541
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Ironton, OH 45638
Web Page:
www.kyowva.com *
Email: kyowva@sbcglobal.net
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Upon Request