This letter was sent to the California Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees, prior to their voting on SB 9:
Law Office of Daniel Horowitz
P.O. Box 1547, Lafayette, California 94549
(925) 283-1863 (925) 283-3498 f
[email protected]
August 8, 2011
THE REAL COSTS OF SB 9
1. Case Preparation and Attorney Representation
A.
Appointed counsel for each of the defendants at approximately $ 100 per hour. A single petition and hearing will take approximately 150 hours to prepare and argue.
$ 15,000.00
Investigators needed to prepare case. Approximately 50 hours to interview percipient witnesses, prison staff,
prison counselors. Court appointed rate approx. $60.00/hr.
$ 3,000.00
B
Prosecution preparation costs – Same as above $18,000.00
Total Attorney / Investigator Costs $36,000.00
2. Appointment of psychiatrists/neuropsychologists and other mental health professional’s by defense and prosecution.
Cost to prepare and testify $15,000 each side. $30,000.00
3. Transport to and from Prison
Estimated $ 1,000.00 (or more)
4. Court time (3 day hearing)
Estimated $ 15,000.00
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NOVJL Cost of SB 9
5. Appeal
Whichever side loses will appeal.
Cost of appellate attorneys is approximately $15,000 each side. $30,000.00
Appellate court time including staff, preparation, three judge panel, opinion $15,000.00
Total Appeal costs $45,000.00
Total Costs $ 127,000 per petition. With three petitions the cost will be $ 381,000.
COSTS UPON RELEASE
Parole Supervision $ 20,000 per year.
New Crime Victims It is undisputed that more than 50% of the
people released on parole reoffend.
SAVINGS
$ 15,000 ~ 20,000 per year
There are fixed costs that don’t change regardless of whether we do or do not release 100 or 1000 prisoners.
Building maintenance, heating, cooling, e.g. all the fixed costs. The actual cost of adding prisoners in the relatively small numbers we are dealing with are probably 10-20% of the numbers they use.
Any claim of a per capita savings based upon the total number of prisoners divided by the total cost of the penal system is a deliberately false statistic.
The real cost of adding or subtracting the few hundred people involved is probably about $15,000 ~ 20,000 per year.
This is offset by the costs of parole supervision.
OTHER COSTS
Most of the released individuals lack meaningful job skills. They will live off family earnings and/or welfare or other forms of public assistance. This public draw will reduce any savings from their release.
The cost for police services, victim’s loss of income, insurance costs and other costs when some reoffend will far outweigh any so-called savings.
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NOVJL Costs of SB 9
CONCLUSION
The cost per individual simply for the court process is $127,000 to $381,000 per person.
The costs saved upon release are OUTWEIGHED by the supervision costs and the costs of public services which will be provided to the majority of these inmates. Any long term savings will be far outweighed by the costs of recidivism.
Please feel free to call me with any questions you may have.
Your OPPOSITION to SB9 would be appreciated.
Daniel Horowitz
Attorney at Law,
Past President and Executive Board Member
National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Lifers
For detailed information on NOVJL, the National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Lifers, and the facts of the crime stories of what happened to our loved ones at the hands of teen killers, see our website at www.teenkillers.org. NOVJL Past President and Executive Board Member Daniel Horowitz, nationally renowned defense attorney, is a frequent guest analyst on national news media, including CNN, MSNBC, Fox and other stations. His wife was brutally murdered by a “juvenile lifer” in California.
DH/me
National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Lifers
P.O. Box 498
Davisburg Mi. 48350-0498
1-847-446-70703
