Generally, I'm against incarceration for that reason. I think the relatively muted violence of it is too easy to stomach for the public, which leads to people letting the system get sloppy. For public and infamous crimes, however, where the question is not "what act took place", but rather "did this act constitute a crime, and if so, what is the punishment?"-type cases, I'm perfectly fine with capital punishment being on the table. We trust public officials with significant authority, and abuse of that authority is utterly irredeemable. Frankly, for elected officials I'd support a "two-thirds vote and you hang" policy. If you want power, and seek out power, you have an immense responsibility to live up to your constituent's expectations.
The ones that were executed would have been alive for the exoneration if we they had been given life in prison instead.
I guess that last part is the perspective I'd change, for a more compassionate world. I'd much rather ask "did this act constitute a crime, and if so, what made the person commit that crime, and how can we help them not do that in the future again?".
My compassion for my fellow man is why I suggest we wait for them to commit a crime before punishing such behavior.
If dylan roof was allowed to live his full natural life in jail, there would be race riots in the US by the end of the press conference.
There's a huge gap between "6 years and a parole officer" and the death penalty.
> If dylan roof was allowed to live his full natural life in jail, there would be race riots in the US by the end of the press conference.
This is both offensive and untrue. Black Americans oppose the death penalty at much higher rates than white Americans and in fact, several survivors and victims' family members have come out against his execution.
While prisons in the USA are often more punitive and dangerous than a forensic psychiatric facility, that does mean forensic psychiatric facilities are not their own form of Hell rife with their own problems. Essentially, autonomy, dignity, and human rights are stripped from individuals in both facilities -- you do not want to go to either.
Vast majority of death penalties happen in countries where citizens don't have much of a say what their government does...
