Add It Up April 06 2005
The cost of death
Pain and suffering damages awarded to Michael and Terri Schiavo in a 1993 medical malpractice suit ......... $300,000
The most a Georgian can collect for medical malpractice pain and suffering under new tort reform legislation ......... $350,000
Estimated expenses to keep Terri Schiavo alive during the 16 years she was in a vegetative state ......... $960,000
Average number of years a Georgia inmate spends on death row ......... 14
Estimated cost incurred by the state of Georgia per death row inmate ......... $3,000,000
Estimated cost incurred by the state per inmate sentened to life without parole ......... $500,000
Rank of Georgia and Texas, respectively, among states with the highest number of executions since 1976 ......... 6, 1
Number of Texas executions approved by then-Gov. George Bush ......... 131
Number of Texas death row inmates later found innocent ......... 11
Total votes cast by House Democrats against a bill, signed by President Bush, to move Schiavo’s case to the federal courts ......... 53
Total votes cast by Senate Democrats against the bill ......... 0
Sources: The Washington Post, the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Death Penalty Information Center, the U.S. House of Representatives??