Boston Bombing

[stanc]

I know there is talk of holding him (suspect #2) as an enemy combatant, but I would have a problem with that unless there is evidence that he was acting on instructions from some al Qaeda cell. Like it or not, he is an American citizen who committed an act of terror on American soil.

Concur.

I say try the bastard in civilian court on charges that would include treason and execute him as an example (which is what should have happened to Johnny "Taliban" Walker Lindh).

I've always thought that Lindh got a raw deal, offered as a scapegoat whom the patriotic masses could direct their anger against. He didn't go to Afghanistan to kill Americans (and AFAIK, he never killed any Americans), he went there to fight the Northern Alliance.

As for Tsarnaev, if you're an advocate of "making an example" of an individual (I'm not, BTW), execution seems like a poor idea. Life imprisonment in solitary confinement may be a better punishment. If he is a true believer in the Islamist cause, he (and other radical Islamists) will view execution as getting him to his eternal reward, not really punishing him. OTOH, solitary confinement for life is not the least bit a rewarding experience. I have a close friend who used to be a prison guard on death row. He told me that after years and years of solitary confinement, death row inmates tend to go insane.