The Death Penalty in LA County
Death sentences around the nation are on the decline, with more juries opting for permanent imprisonment as a safe and cost-effective alternative to the death penalty. But California and LA County are bucking that trend, increasing their spending on death penalty trials to unprecedented levels.
LA is the national leader in death sentences
As of 2009, Los Angeles County has become the national leader in new death sentences, outpacing not only every other county in the nation, but the entire state of Texas! The availability of pemanent imprisonment as a safe alternative has made death sentences decline all over the country, but the LA County District Attorney's office is ramping up its capital prosecutions and leaving Texas in the dust.
LA's Spending priorities
In 2009, LA County spent $14.3 million on 13 death penalty prosecutions. Here's how else that same amount could have been spent:
While LA County spends millions pursuing the death penalty, most murders go unsolved.
The best way to ensure justice for victims and to deter violent crime is to police the community and solve murder cases. Unfortunately, as the graph below shows, most murders in LA County go unsolved. From 1998 to 2008, the county's 10 year homicide clearance rate was 46%.
[Sources: Death in Decline '09,
California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice]