So I unroll this morning's Hartford Courant to see...

[FishermanTim]

The cost isn't the appeal or the legal process, but rather the attorneys and "paid experts" that make the process so costly.

Anyone sentenced to death should definitely be given an automatic appeal, but if they're expensive, taxpayer funded attorney fails at that attempt they should not have any more appeals.
When you start having appeal after appeal on the flimsiest of basis, that's when the money is wasted.

Make the appeal process be a one-and-done process.

This is not a blanket assignment of due process, but rather, an example that could be used for killers that are convicted beyond any reasonable person's doubt.
Examples: The criminal confesses, is caught on film/video, or was witnessed by more than 2 witnesses.

We live in a perverted society that places more favor with criminals than victims, and victims are attacked twice: once by the criminal and again by the system

[rphud]

Rough numbers I heard last night on a TED talk were about $3M+ for each each person on death row. It might have been Oregon that looked at the numbers and then did away with capital punishment. I suppose we could always try to significantly reduce the costs of life imprisonment, but the whole "cruel and unusual" debate would likely become an issue, if you know what I mean.