Does death penalty really cost more than life sentence?

Prison costs about $50,000 per person per year. The average age of someone who goes in for a life sentence is probably around 30, and the average life expectancy is around 80, so that would be about $2.5 million dollars. Wow. A bullet is less than a dollar. What am I missing?

Academia always tries to teach us that the death penalty costs more, which seems obviously absurd. They backtrack and explain that what they mean is that people on death row get special court hearings. That's totally different isn't it? Why don't we give special court hearings to people facing life in prison? It's unjust to give different treatment. It's also suspicious that a special court hearing could cost $2.5 million dollars. I think it's closer to a few thousand, and that's already inflated through corruption. Do academics not understand how it sounds to normal people when they try to insist that killing someone is more expensive than taking care of them for years? In their zeal they lose people they could otherwise convince. I don't like their dishonesty and it makes me suspicious of anything else they have to say. I also don't like the insinuation that we should kill people or not based on practical expediency. They lose my vote once again when they fail to recognize principle.

I think the death penalty should probably not be used until we eliminate perverse incentives for government officials to lie. Nobody ever gets disbarred for it unless it's political. On the other hand I am even more opposed to the cost spent per prisoner. They do not actually live $50,000 lifestyles in jail, and that's $50,000 after tax which is really more like a $75,000 lifestyle. Think of it this way. A prisoner lives in shared 800 square feet, which would rent for about less than $500/month in the Midwest furnished with utilities. They have amenities like a small gym worth a condo fee of maybe $100/month. Their food is all processed from a central contractor and is fast food quality like soybean oil and corn syrup instead of real meat and produce. They work for defense contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin and get paid cigarette money. This is far less than minimum wage lifestyle plus they are the ones taking care of their own prison chores and the government does not even pay property tax. The prison pays for itself. The prisoners get no retirement or welfare. The only benefit they get is health care. Pharmaceutical corporations are the ones sucking up the $75,000 per prisoner in windfall from all that free socialist health care. It's extremely expensive when someone else is paying for you. That's why academics are against death penalty. They are just shills for industry.

That's why I'm against academics. Put them in prison, or better yet...