Thanks for bringing this up, Captain Haddock. Well he deserves the needle for killing four people. The majority of Americans are pro-capital punishment. Arnold careful weighed both sides of the equation and decided to pander to his constituency. But at least the family members got a fair shake of the deal. How would you all feel if it were your family member who got murdered by somebody? I bet most of you would probably want to fry the perpetrator. I sure as hell would. I know there are some people who stick to their ideology, but I feel that the majority would be for executing the murdered. I would not want somebody who kills my loved one to live his life to the fullest( life sentence). He deserves his fate, which is the needle. Some might argue that I wouldn't be saying that if I were on the receiving end, that is my loved one was the killer. Well, sure, I would probably want him/her to live on, in that scenario. But the probability that this will happen is virtually nil. I know there are people who think exactly the opposite. They feel that the death-penatly is a cop-out, and basically means the perpetrator is getting the easy way out. Life behind bars would mean that he would have to lead a hard life and he wouldn't have it easy. Sure, I understand this logic, but somehow it doesn't appeal to me. If somebody kills my family member, I would not want anything to do with that guy. So better end his pathetic existence and give us all peace. This is my belief. Now Tookie claims that he has rehabilitated himself and is a changed man. To his credit, he has managed to turn the lives of gang-members around. But he is in essence a murderer, and I bet my bottom dollar that the family members of his victims want him to be given the needle. A killer deserves the same fate that his victims get. Plus, it's cheaper for the state as well. Do you all realize they take your tax dollar feeding prisoners? Now why would I want that? I would probably be okay with a life-sentence in a scenario like this, *if* I would know for certainty that the killer would live a horrible life, like in the Soviet Gulag. America would never allow that, what with liberal lobbyists and what not. One thing though. White Catholics tend to be against capital punishment, and they predominantly vote Republican. The Catholic vote used to be predominantly democratic, but conservatives have managed to convince them that democrats are against people of faith. Ergo, what you see is that the country is drifting slowly towards conservatism. More than 80% of Americans are religious. This is a very religious country. Australia is the same way.