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Texas, January 2001. George W. Bush is on the way to begin his functions as president of the United States of America. A group of children pray for the future president. In the House of Representatives, one discusses the appropriateness of the sentences of life without parole as as possible alternative to the death penalty…
All started with a figure: 2.3 million dollars, the purported price of carrying out the death penalty from the time of sentence until execution. This sum is three times more than that necessary to condemn a person to life in prison.
What are the reasons for such a high cost? What is the economy of the death penalty?
Officials, lawyers and prosecutors attempt to answer these questions. They are mixed up, contradicted, irritated… and finally end up ready to talk to the camera.
This economic approach to the death penalty is a means of tackling the subject while avoiding direct issues. To use the coldness of money shows the coldness of a system, but also disarms speakers accustomed to a battle with these "European liberal donors of lessons".
February 18, 2001, Huntsville. The Hernandez
family waits. The father will be the sixth executed this year…
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