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rob05c  ·  3345 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: There Is No Humane Way to Execute Criminals

    Even if 10,000 people must be locked up forever, rather than executed, to save the life of one innocent

How deontological.

    There is no group of humans that I trust 100% of the time to make a correct decision

I agree. But that doesn't solve the issue. Because if you've made a mistake, then you're still locking that person up for life. Which ruins the rest of their life. Is destroying someone's life over a matter of decades better than instantly destroying it?

Economics notwithstanding, I think I'd lean towards the highest punishment being life in prison with permissible euthanasia. So, the convicted can decide for themself whether not living is better than the rest of their life in a cell.

Economics considered, life in prison is actually cheaper than death penalty.

That said, there's another consideration. Consider that you convict Hannibal Lecter and sentence him to life in prison, rather than the death penalty for his heinous actions. Mr. Lecter is very clever and very evil. And so, for the next 70 years, despite extreme precautions, he kills 19 inmates, 4 guards, and 1 hapless puppy.

Having determined Mr. Lecter to be an irredeemable danger to society, do we have the moral right to place other humans in danger by permitting him to continue living?