It can cost two to ten times as much to put someone to death just in the appeals costs than it does to house them for life. They already have rules against the criminal profiting from any books, movies or the like. And could prevent the criminal from even having input to those outlets.
So stuffing them in a cell for 50 years with very little human contact is not only cheaper, its considered more humane in the eyes of the World. You might get some instant gratification to watch their body seize up in their death throes but.... Can't do that 168 times can you?
Let them live with the bars' shadow across their face for as long as they can stay alive. Having hours upon hours to think the 'what ifs' is a heckuva lot better way to make them pay their dues than that few seconds of panic before the drugs put them out and THEN the actual death inflicting poisons are injected. Heck, they only panic for a few seconds and then don't even know they are dying.
It doesn't seem that the death penalty really works like it used to as any sort of deterrent anyhow... if you listen to all of these politicos talking the numbers on crime. So why have to pay the millions involved with appeal after appeal when it runs something like 20k a year to lock em away. Let them read, let them get educated. That just makes the incarceration that much more worse on them. Knowing they have all this education but will never be able to use it for ANYthing.
