Executing a person sentenced to death is more costly than life imprisonment, with a higher burden on prison budgets due to the need for increased healthcare for aging inmates and extensive legal processing. Supreme Court rulings and public opinion shifts against the death penalty also contribute to the complexity and cost.
- Carrying out an execution for a person sentenced to death costs significantly more than keeping a person who is sentenced to life in prison due to the extensive legal processes involved with capital punishment.
- Aging inmates require more healthcare services, presenting larger burdens on prison budgets.
- Eighteen people have been proven innocent and exonerated from death row for crimes they did not commit, which brings into question the reliability of the death penalty.
- Furthermore, various Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the application of the death penalty, with certain demographics like individuals with intellectual disabilities, or youthful offenders below the age of eighteen at the time of their crime, being exempt from execution.
- Public opinion also appears to have shifted against the death penalty, influenced by wrongful executions and an overall decline in violent crimes.