It's less money to keep them there for life? I didn't know that. I thought it was the other way around.
Sent from your mom
You add in the plethora of appeals which tax payers pay for. See, 75+ years ago it was much simpler, you were found guilty, no appeal, and you were hanged (or shot, gassed, etc.,) but prisoners have rights, especially those on death row, and they can exhaust as much as they want. In California a judge recently stated the death penalty was unconstitutional there because either the appeals process took so long 20+ years would pass or the courts were so backed up and the scheduling of an execution was taking too long (15-20 years).
All that costs tax payers a shitload of money.
-Nam