A punishment that's run it course.

Steve Ford has this column in the North Carolina News & Observer, entitled "A punishment that's run it course."

Excerpt:
...Those North Carolina lawmakers who have been wrestling with the future of capital punishment here would do well to fish out a copy of the New Jersey panel's report, which is online at www.njleg.state.-nj.us/committees/dpsc_final.pdf.

...North Carolina's debate has been over a death penalty moratorium, not abolition. But with three executions scheduled in the next few weeks, this state's system again will be in the spotlight. Even if we Tar Heels aren't ready to put our own death chamber out of business once and for all, why keep the executioners busy while so many questions are swirling? Nobody on death row is going anywhere -- but once they're dead, they're not coming back.