Warped

[talon]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BK45820101221

I must be warped because my first thought on reading the headline was that we needed a charity for this.

My second thought was what an odd economic indicator, that it's cheaper to keep someone alive and incarcerated than to kill them.

I wonder if that is actually economically true. Is it cheaper to keep someone alive and incarcerated on Death Row for 10-20 years or more than it is to execute them?

I would have thought executions would rise during an economic downturn because it would be cheaper to kill the prisoners because then the taxpayers aren't paying room, board, utilities, guards, clothes, laundry, security systems, lawyers (public defenders not private ones), transportation, management, and all the myriad other costs of living under constant surveillance and guard.

Then again, since most of society is moving towards "loose house arrest", perhaps the costs are no longer so different and the preparation and drugs for executions really do exceed the cost of living for 10 or 20 or 30 more years.

Has anyone made these calculations?

Do these costs really make such an impact on imprisonment?