Executed Today is a daily chronicle — each day the story of an historical execution that took place on this date, and the story behind it.
Execution as a category seems to be limited to lives taken by the duly constituted authorities in a given time and place with the appropriate forms observed. I did see what looked like a legalized lynching of a black man, William Johnson, by Union forces in the civil war. I did not see on the blog any executions or legalized lynching, or even torture, following upon or preceding secret US Military Tribunals in the present day. My sense is that if such procedures were to be privatized we as taxpayers would get a better deal.
Thanks, Phil!
The inefficiency is getting that whole legal system involved in the first place. Halliburton can kill a lot more people on a no-bid contract basis for just an undisclosed quantity of pallets full of $100 bills. My juridical-centric category is already anachronistic...
Posted by: Executed Today | June 20, 2008 at 12:04 PM
With private ownership you get better throughput, higher profits, more syngeristic relationships between lobbyists, campaign contributions, and politicians, as well as career opportunities for ex-politicians and their families. More Freedom of Enterprise. Less liberty for potential subversives who lurk within our land, a more streamlined Bill of Rights, a more docile electorate.
Posted by: Phil | June 20, 2008 at 01:04 PM