🚀 go-pugleaf

The propriety of capital punishment is a hotly debated topic, and I
have found my views changing with time.

I hear and understand the argument that if killing is wrong, then all
killing is wrong.  Capital punishment is clearly killing, so by that
argument it is simply state-sanctioned murder.

On the other hand, society generally agrees that the punishment should
fit the crime.  This has led to "an eye for an eye", but as MLK
pointed out that simply makes us all blind.  If you are going to take
the "eye for eye" punishment to the limit, rapists would be raped,
muggers mugged, and persons causing great bodily harm would be
similarly crippled/maimed/whatever.  This is generally not done.

Further clouding the issue is the fact that "life without parole" is
*cheaper* than execution.  Some people might not agree with this, but
this is what I was taught in a criminal law class in college.  You can
do the math for yourself.  If it costs $40K/yr to house inmates, and
about $100K to build a cell, and the "average" inmate in question is
sentenced at age 27, lives to age 75, this comes to (75-27)*40K + 100K
= $2.02M (in a new cell).  This is a lot, but the costs of appeals
easily exceeds this.  Remember, government pays the prosecutors,
defense attorneys, and the judges.  The figure we were taught (in
1975) was about $10M for capital appeals to be exhausted.
Streamlining the appeals process reduces the $10M, but it needs to be
cut by 80% to match the $2M.

In article <1993Jan5.060212.11129@tessi.com> allen@tessi.com (Allen Warren) writes:
[snip]
>If Dodd had killed one of my sons, what would I have done?  Kill him?
>I realize that Dodd's death will insure that one less child molester
>is free in our society, but it still doesn't bring back the Isely
>boy or the Neer boys.  What a puzzle this all is . . . 

It is to me too.  I believe that killing is wrong, I do not strictly
support "an eye for and eye" punishment, execution of the murderer
will not bring back the victims, and I believe that "life w/o parole"
is cheaper.  But I'm still mildly in favor of capital punishment.  It
makes no sense.

Erik