The judge calling for a return to the guillotine

[PJMcK]

2. K&R with a thought

I am totally opposed to the death penalty. Our government should not commit this murderous act in our names.

However, if the States and the Federal Government are going to do this, it should be public and demonstrably brutal. They are acting on our behalf and our governments need to be transparent. After all, one of the strongest arguments death penalty advocates make is that capital punishment acts as a deterrent. Fine. Show it so people will be deterred. If the killing is sanitized and hidden behind curtains, how will anyone get the message?

In the interview, Judge Alex Kozinski says:

“The death penalty is barbaric,” he told correspondent Bill Whitaker at the time, “and I think we as a society need to come face-to-face with that. If we’re not willing to face up to the cruelty, we ought not to be doing it."