We have had some nice discussion on this blog on whether a lengthy prison sentence or the death penalty is appropriate for the Chinese business people who knowingly did things like allow the sale or export of poison food, fake infant formula, toothpaste, pet food, etc. and whether the death penalty is appropriate for corrupt Chinese government officials who abuse their power for personal gain.

See, e.g., comments 3 and 4 to Lindsay Yoshitomi’s good post, Counterfeit Drugs.

And see my prior post on this topic, Throw the Bums in Jail.

And see this NY Times article — “China Sentences Former Drug Regulator To Death.”  This poor chap made the mistake of letting bribes get in the way of doing his job.  For the haunting confession he wrote before he was executed, see my prior post, Sins and Mistakes.  Bum or not, I felt true empathy and compassion for this man and his family as I read his confession.

And finally, see this  WSJ article, China Executes Chongqing’s Former Justice Chief.

Should we adopt this Chinese approach in the USA? E.g., when our business leaders or public officials really blow it like this, its off to prison for a long time or even the firing squad for them?

Would this encourage or discourage people from taking public office or taking leadership positions in business; and is that a good or a bad thing?

If you are a big law and order hard liner, if YOU had to personally make the call and sign off on an execution (not somebody else), would you have the guts, ethics and leadership ability to do so?   (Saying somebody else should do it is a totally different issue.)

And if you could make public policy in the US with the wave of your hand (similar to what our US Supreme Court can do via a majority opinion), what would your ruling be on an issue like this, and why?  And would such a policy be “executable” (pun intended) in the US from a practical and political standpoint?

Discuss.