* A California commission reported that the state is spending $138 million per year on a death penalty system that they described as “broken” and “close to collapse.”
* A study in Maryland indicated that the state had spent $37 million for each execution when all the costs of the death penalty were included.
* With the average time spent on death row increasing to 12.7 years in 2007, death penalty cases continue to place a significant financial burden on state budgets.
* State supreme courts in Utah and New Mexico have warned that the death penalty would be stopped unless more funding is provided for indigent defense.
* State legislators in Colorado are considering a moratorium on the death penalty based on costs.
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