For John, BLUF: The death penalty just wastes taxpayer money. Nothing to see here; just move along.
Every time I think Attorney General Eric Holder can't disappoint me any more than he has already, he tries again and succeeds.
While virgil xenophon, commenting at the Althouse Blog (9:18 AM today) has a point about Mr Dzhokhar Tsarnaev possibly being pardoned by some future President, I really don't wish to see taxpayer money wasted on the appeals involved in a death penalty.
And, I don't wish to let him bask in some supposed martyr complex on death row. Just let him sit in prison and see if that opens his soul to his crimes.
As a bonus, The Boston Globe gives us some statistics:
- 492 Federal Cases Authorized to Seek Death
- 287 Taken to Trial
- 222 Where Juries chose between life and death
- 74 Sentenced to death
- 3 Executed
Three.
Regards — Cliff
Agree that if we are going to employ the death penalty as a sentencing outcome, we need to actually carry out the sentence, otherwise, it is a pointless and more expensive outcome (death penalty folks are housed separately and require a greater standard of observation). Furthermore, IMHO, the sentence should be carried out within 90 days of sentencing (expedite all the appellate reviews) and in the most public and inexpensive means possible. The public deserves its pound of flesh.....and they should "take responsibility" for its use.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, given the number of folks wrongly imprisoned, it would seem our justice system is a little bit less than perfect...which is the standard I would think we need to apply when somebody's neck is on the line.
As for the Chechen....put him in a supermax solitary cell and let him rot there.