(Sharp, 1997) In trying to find articles stating that the death penalty is less costly than life without parole, I came across many others who they claimed the opposite around. There are no certain facts about the exact amount of money because each state is different in prices, which leads to finding that in some states the death penalty is much more expensive than life imprisonment without parole, but in other states life imprisonment without parole Parole is the most expensive option. It's proven that when you compare which choice is more expensive, it's actually based on how much taxpayers pay. This shows that life without parole is more expensive because taxpayers pay the same amount of money for the prisoner each year. When there is no death penalty and they are not executed, taxpayers pay every year for however long the person is alive compared to the average 6 years a person on death row is an inmate. (Phillips,