Quote of the Day for 2016-01-14

"To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, / To a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock, / Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock, / From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!"

— W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) The Mikado, act 1

Finale of act 1, at the Savoy Theater (1908)

Quote of the Day for 2015-10-18

"If we are to abolish the death penalty, I should like to see the first step taken by my friends the murderers."

— Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (1808-1890) Les Guêpes, volume 6, January 1849

Mug shot of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was convicted of murdering his three daughters by arson, and executed at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville on February 17, 2004. Subsequent investigations concluded his trial and rejected appeals were a gross miscarriage of justice.