1.) How many states have banned the death penalty, and how many states still have it?
The death penalty is currently legal in 34 states and abolished in 16 states. The most recent state to abolish the death penalty is Illinois.
2.) Why is the death penalty so expensive?
Most of the costs come from the inital trial, because the cost of the trial is usually a lot higher with cases involving death. Also, there are usually numerous appeals leading up to the death penalty. So the high cost is from the legal expenses rather than actually killing the person.
3.) What are the criminal offenses one needs to commit to receive the death penalty?
The death penalty is almost exclusively for the crime of murder. Some states have laws that allow the death penalty as a punishment for rape of a child, however anyone is yet to executed for this.
Sources:
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/
http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001000
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