... for the state appeals; $113,608 for federal appeals over six years; and $135,875 for death row housing. In contrast, the cost of housing a prisoner in a Texas maximum security prison single cell for 40 years is estimated at $750,000. This is a huge amount of taxpayer money but the public looks at it as an investment in safety since these ... kills a black person. In Texas in 1991, blacks made up 12 percent of the population, but 48 percent of the prison population and 55.5 percent of those on death row are black. Before the 1970s, when the death penalty for rape was still used in many s...

• Word Count: 1084
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate