Post
by Blind groper » Mon Feb 18, 2013 5:09 am
In the USA, criminals who are executed cost the taxpayer, on average, 250% of the cost of keeping that same criminal in prison for life. The reason for this counter-intuitive statistic is that people on death row use every legal avenue they can to avoid the penalty. This means appeals, new court cases, and legal shenanigans of all kinds. When a single trial can cost millions, it is much cheaper to keep them in prison ($100,000 per year) for life.
So why not avoid all the ethical problems of the death penalty, and simply lock them up till they die of old age? In fact, I would suggest releasing them when they get too old to walk normally. An infirm geriatric is not much of a risk to society.
For every human action, there is a rationalisation and a reason. Only sometimes do they coincide.