A Note on Capital Punishment

Saddam Hussien's execution brings new weight to the debate surrounding captial punishment. Ethically, the argument is that a ruling government shouldn't be able to kill when killing is otherwise against the law. Interestingly, the state of New Jersey is considering banning captial punishment. The operation of the legal system today makes it more expensive to execute someone than to put them in prison for life. Economcially, execution makes little sense. Similarlly, execution rates usually have to increases substantially in order to inhibit the crimes it punishes. The net result render execution as a poor form of punishment for those who would disobey the law, at least in the United States.