# Is the Death Penalty really worse than Life Without Parole? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 5, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279 "2015-03-05T15:52:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/1 "2015-03-05T15:52:45Z")
I don’t want to sidetrack my own thread with discussion of the “Boston Marathon Bomber”, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, but it’s news from that trial that’s got me thinking about this. [Story](http://abcnews.go.com/US/boston-marathon-bombing-inside-dzhokhar-tsarnaevs-defense-strategy/story?id=29405323). Summary: Tsarnaev’s Defense Team’s strategy is not to avoid a conviction, but to avoid the Death Penalty. They began proceedings yesterday by acknowledging “He did it” and are focusing on trying to secure a “lesser” sentence, most likely [life without parole](http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/09/15/most-boston-residents-favor-life-without-parole-for-tsarnaev-convicted-poll-shows/Ur6ivWIUiYCpEZLXBApHDL/story.html). So, what do _you_ think, fellow Dopers? Which is worse: life in prison with no chance of parole, or the death penalty? ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/2 "2015-03-05T17:24:37Z")
I would prefer life without parole. When I die, that’s it. There is nothing after that (IMO). Thinking about it too long, or too often, scares the shit out of me. I’ll take life any day. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/3 "2015-03-05T17:49:32Z")
I would suspect that most people would rather remain alive. It’s human nature. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/4 "2015-03-05T17:56:44Z")
> [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > Which is worse: life in prison with no chance of parole, or the death penalty? You cannot unring a bell when [carrying out the death penalty](http://time.com/79572/more-innocent-people-on-death-row-than-estimated-study/). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/5 "2015-03-05T18:03:06Z")
I bitch and complain when the towels at an otherwise nice hotel are too rough. I’d prefer a quick end to life in prison. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/6 "2015-03-05T18:04:42Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I would suspect that most people would rather remain alive. It’s human nature. So much this. People have a very strong urge to live no matter how bad their life sucks. When you think about some of histories most evil prison camps like say “Devils Island” or North Korea’s prisons, you’d think more people would just off themselves to save them so much misery, but they don’t because their will to live is so strong. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/7 "2015-03-05T18:06:02Z")
Dead is just dead. Life in prison without parole is just ongoing torture to me. Or a green card to do whatever the Hell you want to everyone else. Either way its just long drawn-out suffering. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/8 "2015-03-05T18:07:48Z")
I’d prefer having my own cell on death row for a few years than living in the general population. US prisons are a nightmare. If you are never getting out, better to spend what remaining time not mingling with the felons. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/9 "2015-03-05T18:40:10Z")
Worse for whom? Am I to put myself in the prisoner’s situation and tell you which sentence I’d rather receive? Or which do I think is the more callous or more harsh way for us as a society to treat convicted murderers and whatnot? Am I allowed to separate out abstractions from the realities of how some of these things play out in real life? • I think it is cruel to cage anyone long-term and not give them the option of suicide / receiving capital punishment instead of having to live in the people-cage. • I think the persistent agonized focus on capital punishment is downright EVIL insofar as it draws attention away from how horrible it is to lock people up in cages for years and years of their lives • If it were me, and I had reason to believe that “life in prison w/o parole” was really and truly going to mean “you spend your life in prison” — not that there’s some greater-than-marginal chance that no matter what sentence is pronounced I’ll still probably get paroled, also omitting any likely shot at getting my conviction or sentence overturned on appeal or something — I’d rather be put down. I say that knowing that as the moment of execution got imminently near, survival instincts would kick in and make it very difficult for me to not wish to survive longer no matter what. • If it were me and I thought maybe I could escape or maybe my attorney will win on appeal or maybe the political climate will change and folks sentenced to life without parole will get a break, I’d want to delay, see how long I can tolerate imprisonment while hope is reasonable, but I’d still want the option of saying Fuckit, kill me now • Let’s examine the details of this capital punishment. I don’t think the existing forms of it are anywhere near as humane as they could be. I’d like to be medicated to replace anxiety with numbness then rendered fully unconscious, painlessly, then have my bodily functions stopped without me having to experience that happening. Maybe a gradually increasing morphine drip culminating in cessation of respiration. There are a lot of ways of executing someone that are spectacularly painful and cruel, especially in the distant past (drawing and quartering comes to mind). Our current prevailing methods aren’t horrible on THAT scale but they’re still nasty enough to make me want to commit suicide my own way rather than climb onto the lethan injection cot or step into the gas chamber. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/10 "2015-03-05T21:07:13Z")
Speaking personally, I’d far rather have life w/o parole. Oh, all the books I’d read…all the books I’d write… ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/11 "2015-03-05T21:31:09Z")
In California, death row is practically de facto life. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/12 "2015-03-05T21:39:49Z")
Life in prison is life, not a great one, but actually better than some. You have food, shelter, and some form of entertainment. With a chance (slim) of escape, commuting sentence, crazy Governors, etc. it may not be life in prison after all. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/13 "2015-03-05T21:49:56Z")
And LwoP _isnt_ necessarily. Sentences are commuted, prisoners escape, clerical errors happen, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/14 "2015-03-05T21:50:03Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > Speaking personally, I’d far rather have life w/o parole. Oh, all the books I’d read…all the books I’d write… I believe it was Heinlein who said it is often a mistake to put writers in prison, as it eliminates most of their excuses for not writing. ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/15 "2015-03-05T22:11:32Z")
There is nothing intrinsically sacred, special or thrilling about life. You get a few dozen years as a vital adult before you start to deteriorate and decay. Life is a struggle at best! And that is on the outside of prison. Inside? With a life sentence? I couldn’t imagine that torture. Off me now please ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/16 "2015-03-06T00:36:34Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > • I think it is cruel to cage anyone long-term and not give them the option of suicide / receiving capital punishment instead of having to live in the people-cage. Just about everybody has the option of suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/17 "2015-03-06T01:37:49Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Just about everybody has the option of suicide. It is generally hard to exercise it in prison. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/18 "2015-03-06T01:50:54Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I believe it was Heinlein who said it is often a mistake to put writers in prison, as it eliminates most of their excuses for not writing. As someone who last year killed all of his social media and electronic entertainments (video games, cable TV, etc.) so that he could get…oh, **85% of the way through the first draft of a REALLY GOOD NOVEL** …I agree with him. :mad: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/19 "2015-03-06T04:58:05Z")
I don’t care if it’s better or worse, I only care that it’s just. IMO, the death penalty is more just for someone convicted of murder than a life sentence. Murderers should only get life if there are extenuating circumstance or they’ve plead down, spared the victims families a circus trial, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279/20 "2015-03-06T05:08:59Z")
> [@manila](#): > > There is nothing intrinsically sacred, special or thrilling about life. You get a few dozen years as a vital adult before you start to deteriorate and decay. Life is a struggle at best! > > And that is on the outside of prison. > > Inside? With a life sentence? I couldn’t imagine that torture. Off me now please This. I don’t really get why we consider human life SO freaking sacred. Just humans, mind you. Everything else can pretty much fuck off and die. Most people would say that keeping a dog in a cage it’s whole life is cruel, even if it’s well fed and gets an hour outside of the cage every day. Most would say the dog would be better off put to sleep. And yet human life must be preserved at all cost, for some reason, even if it’s a really shitty life, and the person who owns it wishes to die. Strange. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-death-penalty-really-worse-than-life-without-parole/714279.md?page=2)