Apearantly you didn't understand me. Even w/ court costs it evens out in the end. Jail is a terrible faite for horrible people(ONLY if they deserve it. We agree that many do not), and the death penalty is there for worthless sociopaths who have no use in society, or even jail. What is the point to keeping these horrible people who have no empathy towards men woman and children alive. Why...what can be gained. Nothing. Morality has nothing to do with it. Assuming these scum are actually guilty, they serve no purpose AT all. They are just a waste of resources and fresh air. Eff um. Let it go, these scum most of them would kill you and everyone you love to get free. They aren't even worth worrying about.
I don't worry much about them, that's not my point. I don't agree at all that it evens out in the end. But, even if it did, your assumption that these "scum" are actually guilty is a giant leap of faith I'm not willing to take. Recent events have proven that it is, in fact, a leap of faith. Too many innocent people have been discovered on death row or doing LWOP.
BTW, who would you kill if you were facing the D.P.? Would you be more or less likely to kill again if you were facing LWOP? The vast majority of murderers are doing LWOP. If you're theory was true, murder would be rampant among institutions were they were being held. But it's not. Fact is, the vast majority of murderers never killed before and would probably never kill again. I know TV tells you different, but that is a fact. It's only the "probably" part that provides justification not to release them back into society at some point. Again, they used to parole murderers all the time. They didn't stop it because of recidivism. They didn't stop it because it didn't work. They stopped it because of sensationalism and political pressure.
The only way to ensure, without doubt, that the D.P. is cheaper than LWOP is to take measures that will result in even MORE errors in the system and even MORE innocent people being murdered by the state.
Sorry, but you can't argue that morality has nothing to do with it. Morality has EVERYTHING to do with it. If the point is not money, what else is there? Deterrence? That's a moral issue.
If we wanted to be absolutely sure, (probably impossible), that we weren't murdering innocent people, a DP trial would be even MORE costlier. Then, there would be absolutely no doubt that LWOP is cheaper.
So, why do we risk murdering innocent people? Money? (savings are debatable) Deterrence? (that benefit is Highly doubtful) That only leaves revenge. So, we probably pay a dollar premium for the privilege of satisfying our
sense of revenge, while we undeniably take a clear and proven risk of murdering innocent people ourselves. Sorry, but that makes no
sense to me, either morally or economically or pragmatically.
Let's not forget, as the Duke study points out, the "opportunity costs" of imposing the D.P..
D.P. cases take up many more resources than LWOP cases. Those resources could, and should, be used for other things, like apprehending and prosecuting other criminals. They are hard to quantify exactly, but those costs are undeniable.
So, in a day of limited resources, while that investigator is doing all the extra work required for a DP case, the trail of the thug who killed your brother is getting colder. While the DAs office is doing all the extra work needed for a DP case, they have to scrimp on the less publicized case against the guy who raped your sister. Is your bloodlust worth it? Few DAs offices are provided extra resources just for DP cases. The extra resources needed for a DP case are diverted from other cases. Maybe one of those cases is yours.