[Blimpie]

I had a Social Psychology professor in college (late 1980s) who informed us that it cost--at that time--around $ 65,000 per year at the Florida State Prison to house an inmate on death row without regard to the cost of his legal appeals. At that time, Ted Bundy was sitting there, so it was topical. On the other hand, it cost roughly $ 75,000 to sucessfully perform an execution at that facility (electric chair). So, from a cost basis, there is no comparison between the two.

Where the battle lines should be drawn is on the moral ground and whether or not capital punishment has been shown to be a deterrent to crime. It has not. Unless the point in time comes where they decide to reinstitute public executions, that will not change.