In the decades since the U.S. Supreme Court again permitted capital punishment, the cost of carrying out trials has risen steadily. ✍️: Maurice Chammah & 🎥: Chris Vazquez / The Marshall Project Transcript: PROSECUTOR: I, a prosecutor, am seeking the death penalty. CHRIS VAZQUEZ: OK, that’ll be hundreds of thousands of dollars. PROSECUTOR: Wait, what? SOME DISTRICT ATTORNEYS AND RESEARCHERS: Death penalty trials cost way more than other kinds of trials. CHRIS: Making sure that you got the right person and that they actually qualify for execution means you have to do more hours of prep work. DEFENSE ATTORNEYS: And so do we. CHRIS: Which costs taxpayers money. Also, are you calling any expert witnesses? PROSECUTOR: Well, yeah. EXPERT WITNESSES: Our fees have gone up. COURT-APPOINTED LAWYERS: So have ours. CHRIS: Are you gonna need lab tests to be totally sure you got the right person? PROSECUTOR: Yeah. LAB CHRIS: Those cost money. CHRIS: And defendants in these cases get lawyers when they appeal. PROSECUTORS: But that can last years! CHRIS: Which will rack up more costs. And so will holding someone on death row while that appeal is happening — way more than a life sentence in general population. COUNTY OFFICIALS: We’ve sometimes had to raise taxes and cut spending on roads and bridges to pay for death penalty trials. PROSECUTOR: But shouldn’t this be about justice, not about how much it costs? ANTI-DEATH PENALTY ACTIVISTS: On the other hand, people facing execution are more than just a price tag. They’re human beings.