Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

I'm sure most people have now seen the reports on the Los Angeles commuter train derailment yesterday. I can't help being struck by the following quote from today's paper: "The Los Angeles County district attorney said today that he would probably seek the death penalty for the suicidal man who abandoned his S.U.V. on a heavily traveled commuter rail track." I'm not a great believer in the death-penalty, and this case seems a special circumstance. It can't be the most fitting punishment for a dithering suicidal man to have the government spend $2.3 million to do the deed for him.