Aside from the no state income tax factor, The Monk also likes living in Texas because it both HAS the death penalty and EMPLOYS it. Cop-killer? Expect a needle. Rapist-murderer? Expect a needle. Dragged a black man behind a pickemup truck with two of your Klan-lovin' buddies until he died? Two of you can expect a needle, the first to turn state's evidence will just be a ward of the state for the rest of his life.
And in Texas, life without parole means . . . you won't be paroled.
Sure, there are some shortcomings: car robbery is just a high-end misdemeanor and probation is available for nearly all non-Class A felony crimes. But criminals do tend to get what they deserve: a former colleague of mine who was a former Assistant DA and prosecuted child abuse based sex crimes proudly kept a copy of the mug shot of every lifer he put in the klink in his desk drawer.
Wizbanger Jay Tea notes that in Massachusetts, life without parole doesn't mean what it seems. Why? Because the BoGlobe checked the records and 171 lifers have been released on parole in the last 3 years! For his sake, Gov. Mitt Romney better have little or no say in that process (the article doesn't discuss whatever role he may have), otherwise he doesn't stand a chance at winning the GOP nomination in '08, nor should he.
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