However, it is undetermined if capital punishment is a public good due to the definition of a public good as something that is universal and a benefit to all people. Thereby, the basis of the death penalty may not fit the definition of a public good because it disrupts the satisfaction of others' (Meerman, 1980). Unfortunately, the cost of the death penalty is the lack of unanimity between the public and its representatives. Such was the case in 1988 when former Presidential Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis supported the government program that granted a furlough to inmates allowing the release of prisoner William Horton who then committed rape and robbery (Ellsworth & Gross, 1994). The problems that stemmed from the government's furlough
