Re:When murderers were hanged quickly (2014)
by Fjolsvith on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @09:39AM
(#20164445)
At least the prisoner still has a choice he can make.
Re:When murderers were hanged quickly (2014)
by mcguire on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @12:18PM
(#20166254)
"Extreme torture"?
Re:When murderers were hanged quickly (2014)
by 9nGQluzmnq3M on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @12:48PM
(#20166633)
Many death row prisoners spend years in solitary confinement, and are driven insane in the process.
Re:When murderers were hanged quickly (2014)
by luckylion on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @01:38PM
(#20167219)
In a hypothetical scenario, imagine whatever torture you consider the absolute most cruel. Would you prefer somebody suffer that torture for 50 years or be killed tomorrow? If you choose the latter, we've established that death can be a preferable alternative to otherwise horrible circumstances. I'm not saying that imprisonment is the most extreme torture imaginable, but it's probably not the best thing ever either. It's somewhere in between, likely closer to the torture end of the scale.
If and where you draw the line between "this is fine" and "no person shall suffer like that for decades, no matter what they may have done, ending their life is the humane thing to do" is up to you.
For society's conscience, certainly. For the prisoner, I'd say it depends. I suppose most will agree that a swift death would be preferable to 65 years of extreme torture with a "sorry, you're free to go" in the end. It comes down to whether long term imprisonment, especially solitary confinement, is close enough to torture. Some prisoners apparently prefer death, the suicide rate is much higher than that of the general population, and iirc, quite a few prisoners dropped their appeals and asked to be executed, likely because they prefer a horrible end to never ending horror.