In general, I think the death penalty’s a bad idea. I believe there are a hundred reasons not to have it. As near as I can tell, there are two common arguments for it:

• the Bible quote “an eye for an eye” makes it ok;
• the hope that the death penalty will act as a deterrent, especially to people committing crimes in a similar fashion.

The first argument can be dismissed easily; there are several biblical quotes that would counter the argument, and in any case, the bible doesn’t dictate the law.

The second argument could have merit; I don’t have stats on hand to support or refute it, and am too lazy to look for any. But it passes an initial sniff test, so I’ll bite for the sake of this post.

But how does it apply to this woman who killed her baby by — and I’m not making this up — microwaving it to death? The prosecutor is seeking the death penalty, presumably to remind all those people out there thinking about microwaving their babies to death that it is, in fact, a crime. Look, if you’re so freaking far gone that it seems like a good idea to nuke your infant, do you really think someone’s going to snap out of it just as their finger hovers over the ‘High’ button when they remember the fate of crazy old China Arnold who got the needle as reported in the Plain Dealer last year? I’m guessing not.

Argh.

[tags]death penalty, china arnold[/tags]