According to this AP article by Deborah Hastings, “In hard times, executions become question of cost” the expense involved–mainly in judicial costs–to apply the death penalty overwhelms the expenses of a life sentence.
I applaud those states who will propose doing away with the death penalty. Sure wish it was based on something akin to the immorality of taking a life rather than a reason of money though.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology