3 ms·

Locking them away might sound better, but remember the state has to pay for them until they die, which really sucks.

• matwood 6y ago
  What really sucks is killing someone that we find out later was not guilty. One of the many problems with the death penalty is that it's permanent.
  • sokoloff 6y ago
    Locking someone away wrongly for a year or twenty years is also permanent in that they can’t get that life/time back, even if they’re still alive when found not guilty. It’s just permanent and slightly smaller, but still a horrific theft IMO.
    • matwood 6y ago
      Agreed. I hope nothing in my original comment makes anyone think otherwise.
      • sokoloff 6y ago
        Not at all; I do think some people imagine "life without parole" is somehow safer or lower-risk than the death penalty.
• carschno 6y ago
  Weighing economic costs against a human's right to live looks like a very strong indicator for a barbaric society to me. Although I'm aware that this is done (implicitly) in probably all societies to some degree.
• kevinmchugh 6y ago
  It's a good thing the extra rigor applied to death penalty usage in the US causes it to be more expensive than life imprisonment. Giving the state a fiscal incentive to execute would be heinous.