The real problem with the death penalty: too pricey

Forget about the risk of executing innocent people, the new and persuasive argument against the death penalty in the U.S.  is that the trials are three times as expensive as life-imprisonment cases. At least according politicians in several death-penalty states. When Governor Martin O’Malley appeared before the Maryland Senate last week, he “we can’t afford it," he said, "when there are better and cheaper ways to reduce crime," and lawmakers in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and New Hampshire have made the same argument in recent months. Even longtime supporter of the death penalty Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, has said he may sign a bill repealing capital punishment, noting that cost was a factor in his shifting views and was "a valid reason in this era of austerity and tight budgets."

International Herald Tribune