Banishment, Imprisonment, Uncertainty, and Capital Punishment

First, regarding banishment: currently, this isn't an option. But I was trying to be very general, and wanted to point out there's at least one option beyond execution and prison. Numerous science fiction writers have developed "coventry" ideas that, using some future technology, might be workable. (Let's send criminals to an asteroid, especially politicians.) Also, primitive societies used banishment -- which was nearly equivalent to a death penalty, often. But I admit banishment isn't very sensible now.

Second, regarding the taxpayer subsidy for imprisonment... I suppose that in the U.S. and in the rest of the developed world, a case can be made that in some ways this is true. But this is true of all imprisonment for any crime. Is this then an argument for executing everyone sentenced to prison? It is, rather, an argument for reforming the way prisons operate. Prisoners should, to the extent possible, be self-supporting.

Third, what about banning capital punishment except for extremely well-established establishment of guilt, where there's not even an unreasonable doubt? While I agree that there are such cases, I am extremely doubtful about developing laws and rules that depend on the judgment and integrity of authorities. We need to design our laws assuming that officials aren't to be trusted, that power corrupts, and that checks on abuse must be institutionalized.

Fourth (and relatedly) I have the perhaps mistaken idea that Mr. Stolyarov is proposing rules for a society of perfectly rational libertarians such as himself. But we are, of course, a long way from such, and need rules suitable for the societies we live in. When I think of the death penalty, I think of places where it has been most imposed -- the U.S. deep south, where whites imposed it against blacks, who undeniably were given short shrift in the justice system, or even worse -- apartheid South Africa,
the current People's Republic of China, and the USSR.

When I was in China, I heard a saying: "Execute one, warn one hundred." True enough, but as the university official continued, "and it doesn't really matter whether the executed was guilty or not." I'm so opposed to this attitude, that executing the innocent could ever be justified, that I'd rather let obvious killers like Andrea Yates rot in prison than write an exception for her that someday might be used to kill an innocent man.

Charles N. Steele is Assistant Professor of Economics at Hillsdale College. He has previously taught economics at the graduate and undergraduate levels in China, Russia, and Ukraine. He also has extensive professional experience as a private consultant in the insurance industry on problems of design and evaluation of insurance programs.

This TRA feature has been edited in accordance with TRA’s Statement of Policy.

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Learn about Mr. Stolyarov's novel, Eden against the Colossus, here..

Read Mr. Stolyarov's new comprehensive treatise, A Rational Cosmology, explicating such terms as the universe, matter, space, time, sound, light, life, consciousness, and volition, here.

Read Mr. Stolyarov's new four-act play, Implied Consent, a futuristic intellectual drama on the sanctity of human life, here.