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When killers are on the loose, we often hear politicians or police chiefs pledge that they will be brought to justice.

That usually means catching them, putting them in prison, and getting them off the streets.

The idea is to accomplish two complementary goals, that they should pay for their past

crimes and that they should be stopped from creating future harm too.

Tossing them in jail usually accomplishes both.

It kills two birds with one stone.

But indulge me for a minute with an unrealistic thought experiment. Imagine you're on a flight 35,000 feet up in the sky, and a police officer on board has an

...