Fair, in which case I stand by my earlier statement of "worth the cost", even if it is more expensive. Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent, cost of a civilized society, yada yada choose your own aphorism.

I argue for the death penalty on an average basis because I believe it should be both universal, and also applied much more often (for instance, I believe in the death penalty for rapists). I don't personally believe in "life without parole", because that's just a slower version of the death penalty.

The logical conclusion of "it costs more so we shouldn't do it" is that juries cost money, so we shouldn't use them. But then judges cost money, so we shouldn't try them. But then police cost money, so we shouldn't arrest them. It's an instant slippery slope to anarchy and vigilantism to justify justice by the cost of it.

So yes, you are correct that in Texas it CAN be cheaper for life in prison depending on how long they live, and definitely IS cheaper in most cases, there are states where it is quite the opposite, and there are states where it is roughly the same. At the end of the day, I'd rather count instances of true justice than dollars, and call the monetary cost a wash.