Obama on CNN, discussing what should be done with Osama bin Laden:

If he was captured alive, then we would make a decision to bring the full weight of not only U.S. justice but world justice down on him. And I think, and I’ve said this before, that I am not a cheerleader for the death penalty — I think it has to be reserved for the most heinous crimes. But I certainly think plotting and engineering the deaths of 3,000 Americans justifies such an approach.

It could be a very, very long trial.

UPDATE: As far as “world justice” is concerned, a number of readers point out that the countries liberals like to cite as models for American justice have themselves eliminated the death penalty. Therefore, it seems likely that, were bin Laden captured alive, much of the world would be urging President Obama to forgo the barbarism of capital punishment.