Tim Arango has this story, with the above title, in the NYT.
The story quotes me saying "The case for the death penalty is the moral part of it .... For the very worst murderers, nothing short of execution is adequate." That is rather awkward phrasing from an extemporaneous conversation. The point that I was making was that the moral part of the justification for the death penalty (as distinguished from the utilitarian part) is that for the very worst murders nothing short of execution is adequate.
The utilitarian justifications are deterrence and incapacitation.
Spending a huge amount of money to sentence to death a man who will never live to see that sentence imposed just emphasizes what a ridiculous farce the death penalty is. The DAs don't care if anyone is executed, they just want the publicity of seeking the death penalty.
After a highly publicized execution, Reagan received a letter that began,
"Governor, thanks for saving my life."
The rest of the letter, Reagan recalled, went something like this:
"I run a liquor store. Last week, a thug broke in. He intended to rob us, but
I resisted him. He wrestled me to the floor and poised his knife above
my throat. I shouted out, 'Go ahead and kill me! You'll get the
death penalty and be executed, just like the guy last week.' "
The letter continued:
"He dropped the knife and ran from the store. Thank you, Governor.
Your fortitude and resolve saved my life."
Reagan added, "In case anybody asks you about my position on capital punishment, you can tell them I favor it; and if they want to know why, you can tell them this story."
In the end, capital punishment saves lives.
Source: Lessons From a Father to His Son, by John Ashcroft,
p.138-139 , May 5, 1998.
Fuzzy; so you are among those who think that John King, the ringleader of the brutal racially motivated dragging death of James Byrd, should have been allowed to keep his life.
There are arguments against the death penalty that are at least worthy of debating. "This guy got away with serial murder for so long that he's old now" is not one of them.