PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER EDITORIAL: …The inability of state prison officials to acquire lethal-injection drugs last week prompted Gov. Corbett to temporarily stay the execution of Hubert L. Michael Jr., the confessed murderer of a York County teenager two decades ago…
It’s already well-established that death row is inordinately more expensive than the more reasonable alternative of sentencing the worst criminals to life in prison without parole. The cost of interminable appeals, much of it borne by taxpayers on behalf of indigent defendants, runs into the millions for every death-penalty case…
Fortunately, however, the logistical problems in carrying out lethal injections offer another chance for state leaders to do the right thing. That is, to enact a moratorium on executions, and continue the careful review that should make an ironclad case for outlawing capital punishment in Pennsylvania… (more)
