4 ms·

Perhaps a closer to home viewpoint for Americans would be: whether it's unethical / unjust to not execute a murderer.

• leetcrew 9y ago
  a swift and painless death is ultimately more humane than a lifetime behind bars with no hope for release, imo. unfortunately the US system combines the worst of both worlds. the few who are executed only die after years of agonizing "will they or won't they" through the various levels of appeal. and after all that we still end up exonerating people posthumously.
  • gnode 9y ago
    > a swift and painless death is ultimately more humane than a lifetime behind bars Many would argue it's unethical for anyone to make that decision on someone else's behalf. The fact that so many death row convicts appeal their death sentence until the bitter end would imply that they themselves don't agree with your belief.
    • leetcrew 9y ago
      > The fact that so many death row convicts appeal their death sentence until the bitter end would imply that they themselves don't agree with your belief. it doesn't necessarily imply that. at each point in the appeal process, there remains the possibility of having one's case thrown out altogether or reducing the sentence even further than natural life. even if you prefer death to life in prison, it would still be rational to pursue any chance of getting out entirely or getting a substantially reduced sentence. that said, if I could implement any policy I wanted, I would choose for life to be the most severe sentence but give the inmate the ability to choose death if they prefer.