Death penalty

[KeithI]

Mark, what are your thoughts on the death penalty and its implementation? I believe there are crimes that should be punished by death and people who deserve to die for what they’ve done. I don’t know how to reconcile that with the fact that it is implemented by a corrupt and incompetent government. As you have said, they could indict a ham sandwich. I don’t think it’s that uncommon for the wrong person to be convicted of a crime. A number of such cases have been found in recent years.

[Mark Rippetoe]

There are several things wrong with it, primarily the fact that the aforementioned problematic government must administer it. But I think that a person who burns a child to death needs a different form of execution than that provided for a loving pet. Putting a murderer to sleep is just as heinous as letting him go -- if he's not begging for death at the end of the rather long process, it was done incorrectly.

Lots of problems. Better just let the survivors' family deal with it.

[Johnsonville]

The government having the ability to murder citizens has always sat wrong with me, but then again the fact that the can lock you in a cage for not paying them is also wrong.

[anticausal]

Tangential, but I find it fascinating how they've convinced everyone that corporal punishment is "cruel and unusual". How on earth are a few lashes worse than wasting away months or years of your life in prison? Not to mention the much cheaper cost. Depending on the crime, it's a much more civilized and effective punishment, which is probably the real reason they got rid of it.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Tangential, but I find it fascinating how they've convinced everyone that corporal punishment is "cruel and unusual". How on earth are a few lashes worse than wasting away months or years of your life in prison? Not to mention the much cheaper cost. Depending on the crime, it's a much more civilized and effective punishment, which is probably the real reason they got rid of it.

And it's more fun to watch.

[KeithI]

Tangential, but I find it fascinating how they've convinced everyone that corporal punishment is "cruel and unusual". How on earth are a few lashes worse than wasting away months or years of your life in prison? Not to mention the much cheaper cost. Depending on the crime, it's a much more civilized and effective punishment, which is probably the real reason they got rid of it.

Industrial prisons have much better lobbyists than the folks that make electric chairs.

[Yngvi]

Tangential, but I find it fascinating how they've convinced everyone that corporal punishment is "cruel and unusual". How on earth are a few lashes worse than wasting away months or years of your life in prison? Not to mention the much cheaper cost. Depending on the crime, it's a much more civilized and effective punishment, which is probably the real reason they got rid of it.

The matriarchy at work.
Better to psychologically torture an individual for years, making certain they will never again be a productive member of society than to use any physical force.