http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/15/opinion/L15CLON.html (Last letter: Bush says (in relation to stem-cell research) “no human life should be exploited or extinguished for the benefit of another”; how is this to be reconciled with his views on capital punishment?) This argument was initially appealing, but now I'm not convinced it's viable. Incarceration has four aims: deterrence, protection of society, punishment, rehabilitation. But is capital punishment meant as a deterrence or punishment? I think Bush means it to be a punishment.
(Atul Gawande and Natalie Angier discuss these questions in Slate.) 11:22