If we are to become a more *civil*ized world then we need to put "sanctity of life* front and center. How can that be accomplished with the world's only super power (and role model...) still allowing its government to kill its citizens? Killing is not punishment. It is vengence. That's God's job! Not mans.

Now, I mentioned a while back on another thread the idea of turning the current prison/industrial complex into a public/private partnership where prisons would become like factories that produced lots of the things that government now purchases from strictly from the private sector. This would cut way down on government spending and would get productivity from the percentage of the incarcerated population which is now not only not productive but a further drain on our resources. Another element that could be thrown into the mix is "restitution". A portion of the money saved with such a system could go into a fund to pay for the losses of the victims...

Such a system would also provide inmates with opportunities to learn real world skills and would cut down on the revolving door system that we have now....

Sorry to creep but it's part of a larger vision...

Bobert