4 ms·

Even if there were no death penalty, spending 30+ years in prison while innocent does not seem like such a good deal either.

riffraff 5y ago
but it is possible that the sentence gets revised before you fo 30 years in prison. If you've been killed already, that is not going to help you much.
- unyttigfjelltol 5y ago
  Incarceration also is irreversible as each of our time is finite. It should concern us when we downplay the risk of false incarceration, it also is unacceptable.
wojcikstefan 5y ago
Yes, it's still terrible. However, it's better than death (though I can imagine somebody arguing that "they'd rather die than rot in prison").
spoonjim 5y ago
Sure, but death is worse, as evidenced by the vast majority of death row inmates who try to stall the process. Very few say “OK, just shoot me now.”
- pydry 5y ago
  It's not as uncommon as you'd think: https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90935&page=1 https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90935&page=1 >More death-row inmates have been volunteering for their executions: Between 1993 and 2002, 75 volunteered for death, compared to the 22 consensual executions between 1977 and 1992. (Gary Gilmore, the first prisoner put to death after the Supreme Court reinstituted capital punishment in 1976, "volunteered" for his execution in 1977 because he did not want to live the rest of his life on death row.) It's probably more an indictment of the torture they go through on death row than it is a signal that they all secretly have a death wish.
  - spoonjim 5y ago
    That’s out of over 1,300 executions since 1976.
- alexashka 5y ago
  If they were given the option to send all the resources that get spent on them rotting in prison to a cause of their choosing - many of them would quickly choose a humane death. The ones that wouldn't, only care about themselves and should be treated accordingly.
unyttigfjelltol 5y ago
Arguments against the death penalty downplay how barbaric incarceration is in the first place. But ostracism and exile have their limits, and justice is an essential function of government ... so ... we have our current situation.
Reimersholme 5y ago
Yeah. Hard to see how the same argument wouldn't apply to the prison system as a whole. We can be sure there are people imprisoned their whole lives wrongfully as well even without the death penalty - why is that acceptable? If the argument is that currently, the false positive rate is too high - then what would an acceptable false positive rate be?

riffraff 5y ago

but it is possible that the sentence gets revised before you fo 30 years in prison. If you've been killed already, that is not going to help you much.

unyttigfjelltol 5y ago
Incarceration also is irreversible as each of our time is finite. It should concern us when we downplay the risk of false incarceration, it also is unacceptable.

wojcikstefan 5y ago

Yes, it's still terrible. However, it's better than death (though I can imagine somebody arguing that "they'd rather die than rot in prison").

spoonjim 5y ago

Sure, but death is worse, as evidenced by the vast majority of death row inmates who try to stall the process. Very few say “OK, just shoot me now.”

pydry 5y ago
It's not as uncommon as you'd think: https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90935&page=1 https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90935&page=1 >More death-row inmates have been volunteering for their executions: Between 1993 and 2002, 75 volunteered for death, compared to the 22 consensual executions between 1977 and 1992. (Gary Gilmore, the first prisoner put to death after the Supreme Court reinstituted capital punishment in 1976, "volunteered" for his execution in 1977 because he did not want to live the rest of his life on death row.) It's probably more an indictment of the torture they go through on death row than it is a signal that they all secretly have a death wish.
- spoonjim 5y ago
  That’s out of over 1,300 executions since 1976.
alexashka 5y ago
If they were given the option to send all the resources that get spent on them rotting in prison to a cause of their choosing - many of them would quickly choose a humane death. The ones that wouldn't, only care about themselves and should be treated accordingly.

unyttigfjelltol 5y ago

Arguments against the death penalty downplay how barbaric incarceration is in the first place. But ostracism and exile have their limits, and justice is an essential function of government ... so ... we have our current situation.

Reimersholme 5y ago

Yeah. Hard to see how the same argument wouldn't apply to the prison system as a whole. We can be sure there are people imprisoned their whole lives wrongfully as well even without the death penalty - why is that acceptable? If the argument is that currently, the false positive rate is too high - then what would an acceptable false positive rate be?