It was enough to make you want to jump up and shout, “Let me throw the switch!”

A letter from a death-row inmate in North Carolina’s Central Prison generated headlines last week – too many headlines, in our view – for taunting the system of justice that sentenced him to death.

“Is the public aware,” Danny Hembree wrote, “that the chances of my lawful murder taking place in the next 20 years if ever are very slim? Is the public aware that I am a gentleman of leisure, watching color TV in the a/c, reading, taking naps at will, eating three well-balanced meals a day?”

Not really. Most of us are more aware of the challenges of work, families and life – while obeying the law.

It’s more instructive to consider what Hembree did to earn his life of prison “leisure.” He strangled a 17-year-old girl, then dumped her body in a culvert. He has been accused of killing two other women, as well.

Hembree’s jury deliberated for 10 hours last November before sentencing him to death. It’s a shame that he has lived for more than a minute since then, but those are the breaks.

We honor and abide by a system of justice that, at times, seems too good for the Danny Hembrees of the world. His taunting stings for that reason, especially considering the short tragic life of his victim.

Death penalty justice is too slow to suit many of us. Unfortunately, we probably don’t know how Hembree will die. But we do know where he will die – inside a prison of concrete, steel and hopelessness. That’s where he will find his death of “leisure.”