The stakes are high when there’s a life on the line, but Washington state citizens may be getting the opportunity to reduce that risk.

Last month in Olympia, people gathered before a House committee to determine the fate of death row. The law in question, House Bill 1739, would abolish the death penalty. In its place, convicts would face a life of prison confinement with no chance of parole.

The death penalty serves as the most severe punishment to members of society who carry convictions for the most heinous of crimes.

But, to be certain of a crime, time and resources need to be spent to ensure whatever outcome is justified. But, in an imperfect world, we can never be truly certain of a person’s guilt or innocence.

Although death may be deserving of some individuals who blatantly commit evil, recent research suggests that 120 of the 3,000 inmates within the US who are set to die are wrongfully convicted, according to a study cited in Time Magazine.

Despite being thorough, it’s clear that the whole process isn’t foolproof – and it isn’t exactly cheap either.

The price tag of the proceedings will sum to ten times the amount taxpayers would spend to keep the prisoners alive, according to Forbes. Cases where the death penalty is a possible outcome often require more resources and take longer to resolve.

On average, death penalty cases run approximately $470,000 in additional costs to the prosecution, the defense, and court personnel.

If the public seeks to remove the troublesome members of society, they probably aren’t expecting or wanting to pick up the tab on the whole ordeal.

The funds are high and the stakes are enormous. When the life of an individual is at hand, there will always be an amount of uncertainty. Empirical evidence will not always be available.

If full certainty cannot be attained through the proceedings, and convictions not made with perfect accuracy, then someone will have to pay. Whether it may be in the form of taxpayer dollars or the life on an innocent individual, the risks will be high and the benefits fairly low.

The segregation of an individual away from the public sphere can be attained through quarantine. Death comes at a much higher price.

The death penalty, in a sense, uses force to punish the worst of the community, but only at a high cost. Perhaps by moving away from capital punishment we can save not only taxpayer funds, but a life as well.