When the state of Georgia finally executed Troy Davis the other day, not far from where I live, it reminded me of my belief that the death penalty has outlived it's usefulness. Davis was sentenced in 1991 for the brutal murder of an off duty Savannah police officer who was attempting to help a man being assaulted in a parking lot.
That was twenty years ago. It cost $3 to $5 million dollars to execute a prisoner, while it costs less than $1 million to house him for the rest of his life. This is money the states simply do not have.
States waste millions of dollars each year housing prisoners on death row when they could have simply locked them up for life. The result will be the same, as I don't believe the death penalty is a deterrent to anyone but the person executed. A convicted murderer in prison is removed from society just as much as one who has been executed, at a much lower cost. In reality, the prisoner-for-life is probably suffering much more than the dead one.
It's time we push our states to eliminate this wasteful death penalty and replace it with a "life without parole" option. The taxpayers deserve it.
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