IMO opinion...

Yeah, I agree. We don't even attempt to live up to any sort of standard on this. We wag the dog again and again.

I'm wondering at what point does the cost to incarcerate people become unmanageable. Suppose that 25% figure referenced in the LAT article increases to 50%?

I would hope that before we got to 50% somebody would say, "Hey, you know, maybe if the system results in this large a population going to jail... there's a problem with the system? Maybe?" Of course, many people are saying that already. But maybe at some point it'll be somebody in power?

Okay, probably not so long as it makes money.

The cost of incarceration is pretty unmanageable now, to the tune of $7.1 billion.

This is where I know I'm in the minority.

I have a very simple viewpoint; Murder, rape and anything that endangers or harms children (and this was a "thing" with me even before the Punk came along) and I believe you are no longer fit to be with human society and a bullet is cheaper than feeding you.

I understand that it is a stance that many can jump at and point out the holes and flaws and hypocrisy. This is not a stance that comes from an entirely rational place, however, so all I can do is shrug and say "Yeah, I know...what you say makes sense. And yet...we put down rabid dogs. To me, it's the same thing."

Your Morality May Vary (and, of course, still Be Valid)

I have a very simple viewpoint; Murder, rape and anything that endangers or harms children (and this was a "thing" with me even before the Punk came along) and I believe you are no longer fit to be with human society and a bullet is cheaper than feeding you.

I can see the viewpoint that some things should rule you out of the gene pool (though I don't agree with it). But then I have the unfairly administered and falibility problems.

But then I have the unfairly administered and falibility problems.

Well, naturally, *I* would be doing the judging and *I* am infallible.

No, seriously, I do see the flaws. And I recognize that it's a grotesquely simplistic viewpoint. But there's a...a solid rock wall in my soul that I can't get past for this. This is, among many other reasons, why I am not a lawyer and am not a judge. Because...I'm oddly biased for somebody who really hasn't been a victim of, or close to a victim of, murder, rape or child molestation/endangerment/abuse.

It's...hardwired. I don't know why. But there it is.

I believe you are no longer fit to be with human society and a bullet is cheaper than feeding you.

It still costs much more to execute someone than to imprison the same person for life.

I'm oddly biased for somebody who really hasn't been a victim of, or close to a victim of, murder, rape or child molestation/endangerment/abuse.

I don't think so. Plenty of people on the other end of that continuum are against capital punishment.

And your infalibility has never been doubted by this hippie.

It still costs much more to execute someone than to imprison the same person for life.

Not under my system.

I mean...I was being sorta literal. No lethal injection, no gas chamber, no electrocution. A tiled room with a drain in the floor and a .45 bullet in the back of the head. Just like the KGB used to do.

I'm a monster. And I want to make it very clear that I am in no way attempting to justify this position as superior to others or even morally or ethically justifiable.

It's the way I feel about it, is all.

I mean...I was being sorta literal. No lethal injection, no gas chamber, no electrocution. A tiled room with a drain in the floor and a .45 bullet in the back of the head. Just like the KGB used to do.

The vast majority of the cost of executing someone is the court costs, what with the death sentence carying a higher standard of court proceedings, the inevitable appeals (because the death sentence is not reversable) and what-not.