Tookie's life and the possible cessation thereof has prompted a side discussion on capital punishment. Torment Inside has suggested an island colony where life is made to be a 'living hell'. Any other ideas? I still favor curing the ills of society that precipitate behaviour propmting the mob mentality that results in capital punishment. I think the death row inmates make a convenient repository for the hatred of the common man, and would prefer to dissipate that hatred through social reform. However, I am not so 'whacko' as to believe a utopian fruition is forthcoming. The best compromise I can suggest is leaving the powers of clemency in the hands of the next of kin. Even if this amounts to the victim's 'emergency contact' person, it would be better to personalize the punishment. If it is up to the next of kin to pull the trigger, plunge the syringe, or flip the switch, it will also be up to him/her to possibly choose an even more potent weapon -forgiveness. What better atonement than to put a gun to the murderer's head, the finger of the next of kin on the trigger, and let the miracle of humanity play itself out to either end. Either way, "society" will have been avenged, and a lesson will have been learned. Plus, think about the sick freak whose job it is to kill death-row inmates repeatedly until retirement. A society such as ours needn't produce such abberant occupations. Anybody else?