Why We Don't Hang Pirates

Fabius Maximus has a sound review of the rationale behind how we deal with pirates in these times. In short, the answer is:

1. Modern pirates seldom kill passengers or crew, or commit the other crimes for which their predecessors were infamous (e.g., rape, ransom). See these Wikipedia lists: piracy, somali pirates.

2. Developed nations today have few or no capital crimes. Theft is seldom one, and rarely for first-time offenses.

The more basic problem in dealing with pirates is piracy hasn't been a serious problem in over a century and the law has had no real need to catch up. Now would be a good time, though....