Even worse than the state’s killing of a man it is not morally obliged to kill (I appreciate the arguments, but I’m opposed to the death penalty) may be finding out he may have been innocent of the crimes he was convicted of. This may have been the case with Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in Texas in 2004.

UPDATE: Readers point me to his parting message, which included an obscene gesture. These things, too, do not require the state to end his life.