While I agree with the prosecution “that a scan in 2009 could not accurately reflect the state of mind of someone in 1983,” I do not agree with the statement “that a mental illness such as psychopathy does not mitigate the results of [his] actions.” America already wastes far more money jailing drug offenders than they would keeping several thousand psychopaths alive, and keeping them alive gives us a large test group that we can use to help us figure out how to prevent crimes like these in the future (or even how to prevent people like him from being born with the condition, if the cause is genetic). Capital punishment is only ever vindictive and short-sighted.

That said, I suppose it’s good that fMRI evidence is being considered. But the execution (pun not intended) needs a little work.

While I agree with the prosecution “that a scan in 2009 could not accurately reflect the state of mind of someone in 1983,” I do not agree with the statement “that a mental illness such as psychopathy does not mitigate the results of [his] actions.” America already wastes far more money jailing drug offenders than they would keeping several thousand psychopaths alive, and keeping them alive gives us a large test group that we can use to help us figure out how to prevent crimes like these in the future (or even how to prevent people like him from being born with the condition, if the cause is genetic). Capital punishment is only ever vindictive and short-sighted.

That said, I suppose it’s good that fMRI evidence is being considered. But the execution (pun not intended) needs a little work.