I am a very concerned citizen opposed to Kansas continuing to support the death penalty. The cost of the death penalty to our society is financially astronomical. The possibility for multiple appeals, extra preparation and separate sentencing phases for capital cases increases the cost.

In 2014 the Judicial Council Study found that defense and district court costs are 3-4 times higher for trials where the death penalty is sought. The impact of the death penalty on local communities resulted in increased costs to the county budgets and local taxes.

The emotional cost cannot be calculated in terms of a dollar amount. Currently some of the survivors of the Boston bombing have reported that the potential for a string of appeals for Tsarnaev would keep attention on him for years causing them to relive the most painful days of their lives.

Bryan Stevenson, Lawyer, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama and professor states that “the death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit,” but rather “Do we deserve to kill?” Kansas wake up and abolish the death penalty for life without the possibility of parole.