Ah the irony... One would think that it would be cheaper just to kill a convicted murderer than to house them in prison for the remainder of their lives. Of course, those of us that pay attention know that this is not even close to true. The attached article from the website of a Baltimore television station notes that it costs the State of Maryland an average of $2.3 million for each death penalty case. Compare that to the $768,000 it would cost to house the same inmate for 40 years and you have a big difference. For those of you not good at math, the cost of a death case in Maryland is apparently 3 times that of a life imprisonment. Now, the article also quotes a statistic from Florida which found that between 1976 and 2000 the State of Florida spent $24 million on each of its executions. I wonder if the Florida taxpayers realize that...oh wait, they don't have state income tax in Florida. Who pays for it then? Tourists? Huh, boycott anyone?

How Much Do Executions Cost In Maryland?