In its annual eclectic collection of ideas from the past year, The New York Times Magazine included the “Foolproof Death Penalty” propsed by Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. The Times attempts “to salute the absurdly wide range of human originality” and culls its entries not only from mainstream sources but also from the “tattoo culture and fast food management, horticulture and shoe design.” In response to Romney’s notion of “error-free capital punishment,” Berkeley law professor Franklin Zimring said that the proposed legislation could be “the first effort to write a solely symbolic criminal statute.” The magazine notes that the idea has little chance of being adopted, and the governor hasn’t even introduced a bill based on the proposal. (The New York Times Magazine, December 12, 2004). See Innocence.