Boston Marathon Bomber Sentenced To Death

[sandyRoe]

Is such a sentence kinder than one of life in maximum security?

[sandyRoe]

He's a young man if he'd been sentenced to life he'd have been facing maybe 50 years in an austere institution that might have him wishing for death before it drove him mad. That was my thinking about the use of the word,'kinder'.

[Brinjal]

If he could be kept in that small cell that I saw him in on TV this morning for the rest of his life would be unnatural are cruel punishment but frankly who cares. I don't agree with the death penalty so would be happy to see him in a small cell for the rest of his life.

[Old_Geezer]

It is difficult to think of a situation where death is ever justice. State killing demeans us all. There is nothing unkind about keeping someone unfit to be in civilised society, away from it. It would be unkind to society not to bother. And the cost is the bill one is obliged to pay for such a service. Kind or unkind is how the prisoner is treated when in captivity.

[meglet]

Those two drug smugglers in Bali certainly didn't think the death penalty was kinder than life. And they were in far more squalid conditions that the Boston bomber will ever suffer.

[Pete65]

They may have had squalid conditions in Bali, (I do not know),
but the conditions at the super-max jail at Terra Haute, Indiana,
where he is going, are extremely severe indeed.

[askyourgran]

At least he will be breathing for the next 50 years with three square meals a day (no washing up) and a game of ping pong should he desire. More than his victims and their grieving families have.

[Pete65]

No, askyourgran.
There is no recreation and minimal human conduct in a super-max.
Meals are delivered through a slot in the cell door.
Prisoners are kept alive and very little else.

[douglas9401]

If the prison regime is so bad as to make him suffer the so be it.
If that option ever becomes economically unsustainable there's always the cheaper alternative.

[PankySmooch]

Put him in the chair tomorrow and be done with him, drop his body in the sea....Next

[Pete65]

Since the USA reintroduced the death penalty in 1976, there have been over 140 cases, men and women, who have actively campaigned through the US justice system, to have their executions carried out as soon as possible. They did not want to face years on the Death Rows of America. They sacked lawyers etc,. Dropped all appeals. They wanted death rather than the living death of life without parole in high security prisons if an appeal was won against the death penalty. These prisoners are known in the penal system as "volunteers".
Gary Gilmore was a "volunteer".
So, which is kinder? I certainly don't know.

[sandyRoe]

Would conditions in maximum security prisons in the USA not offend against the eighth amendment which forbids 'cruel and unusual' punishment?

[Hypognosis]

@SandyRoe

I've occasionally wondered what it was which inspired them to put that specification into their constiution. If the right to bear arms was originally aimed at stopping George III from invading again, then it would appear that "Cruel and Unusual" was a reference to how we Brits treated their WoI prisoners. I hope not. Perhaps they just wanted to be the best in the world, where religious divides spawned violence and cruelty?

@naillit
//Ive been in prison with the ''worst' of them but seen the best of compassion and kindness in what society views as the scum of the earth. Ive known murderers who have had more compassion in them than anyone whove Ive known in 'normal' life on the outside.
Hard to explain if youve never bee there.//

Compassion for whom/what?

What compassion did they have towards their victims?

If they charmed you to the extent of fooling you about having compassion then they could have been genuine psychopaths. Charming nature is one of their signature skills.