What is Life Worth?

Four different cases where a life was worth very different amounts, but all decided in the past week:

Nathaniel Robinson, died from "excited delirium," a condition in which the person suddenly stops breathing after being forcibly restrained. He was only worth a $600,000 settlement.

Nachshon Wachsman, who was kidnapped and executed by Hamas in 1994, turned out to be worth about $25 million. We all know that this will never happen... but the best part was the tenacity of the judge to figure that $3 million is due to lost earnings due to the estate because he planned to become a doctor one day.

Jesse Williams, a janitor in Portland who started smoking during a 1950s Army hitch and died in 1997, six months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer, turned out to be worth about $80 Million. While only $800,000 was in actual damages, the punitive damages make up the rest.

Wally, my fish. $3.95 at Walmart.