Death Penalty is also KILLING the ECONOMY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I completely agree with Kelsey. The capital punishment is not only swallowing the victim but also killing the economy. The death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison, and financial resources are scarce. The question is whether the death penalty is a wise use of scarce resources that could be used to more effectively prevent and reduce crime.
As you may already know, homicide rates and rates of violent crime are higher in states and regions with the death penalty than in those without it.

Many people wonder why and at what stage the death penalty process is so expensive. The bulk of the expenses are upfront, for pre trial investigations and the actual initial trial. How come??
• more pre-trial time will be needed to prepare: cases typically take a year to come to trial
• more pre-trial motions will be filed and answered
• more experts will be hired
• twice as many attorneys will be appointed for the defense, and a comparable team for the prosecution
• jurors will have to be individually quizzed on their views about the death penalty, and they are more likely to be sequestered
• two trials instead of one will be conducted: one for guilt and one for punishment
• the trial will be longer: a cost study at Duke University estimated that death penalty trials take 3 to 5 times longer than typical murder trials

Here's an excerpt from a state report that gives some idea of the extent of the costs:

Kansas: “The study counted death penalty case costs through to execution and found that the median death penalty case costs $1.26 million. Non-death penalty cases were counted through to the end of incarceration and were found to have a median cost of $740,000. For death penalty cases, the pre-trial and trial level expenses were the most expensive part, 49% of the total cost. The investigation costs for death-sentence cases were about 3 times greater than for non-death cases. The trial costs for death cases were about 16 times greater than for non-death cases ($508,000 for death case; $32,000 for non-death case).” (. Kansas: Performance Audit Report: Costs Incurred for Death Penalty Cases: A K-GOAL Audit of the Department of Corrections)