No Death Penalty for Taylor's Killers; Fifth Suspect Charged; Suspect Pleads Guilty

[SC Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by WaldSkins

Did you know that it cost more to keep someone in prison for life, rather then putting them to death? I find this hard to believe.

I don't really understand what you are saying here. Are you stating as fact that it costs less to execute someone than to imprison them for life, or that you find it hard to believe it costs less to execute someone than to imprison them for life? In any case, as you might expect, this question of cost seems to divide largely along ideological lines (death penalty proponents say it is cheaper, death penalty opponents say it is more expensive). I haven't done the research so I can't say exactly, though a quick search suggests that more competent work seems to support the latter. Personally I think cost is a tangential issue and bigger problems exist with imbuing the state with the power to execute it's citizens, but as to the cost I'd have to defer to peer reviewed research to make a more accurate statement. I don't, however, think you can simply state as fact that it is cheaper to execute someone than to keep them in prison for life.