UTAH (USA): EACH DEATH ROW INMATE COSTS $1.66 MILLION MORE IN TAXPAYER MONEY THAN ONE SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE

A new state report finds that each death row inmate in Utah costs $1.66 million more in taxpayer money than one sentenced to life in prison without parole. State lawmakers weighed the costs of capital punishment today at a hearing that came after the legislature both brought back the firing squad and seriously considered eliminating death sentences altogether. Some lawmakers sharply questioned whether the state could really save that much money if they did away with capital punishment, pointing to costs like care for elderly inmates.