[punkgrrrlie10]

Nothing to do with the 'way' we put them to death. That's actually fairly cheap. It's the judicial system which is put in place to try to make sure that innocent people aren't put away or to death. Most people on death row can't afford attorneys, so they get public defenders. They you have judges that have to hear the case and prosecutors that gotta get in on it trying to prove s/he is in fact guilty. Then you have clerks that manage the court calendar and baliffs to make sure the defendant doesn't attack anyone in court. All of this is public funded. So guess who foots the bill on that one. Putting someone in jail for life does not involve the same amount of appeals in short periods of time and most people don't fight so hard against it. It just takes alot of judicial time to put someone to death and costs enormous amounts of money.