# Was the Joker ever sentenced by a court of law to be executed in any Batman comic ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2014, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939 "2014-02-22T06:40:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/1 "2014-02-22T06:40:18Z")
Just curious. Gotham City seems to have the highest ratio of mass murderers that are never (as far as I can recall) ever in danger of being sentenced to death by a court of law. Has the Joker ever been on death row? ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/2 "2014-02-22T06:44:40Z")
Gotham doesn’t execute the mentally disturbed. The Joker goes into an insane asylum, remember? ---
**Author:** ![irritant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@irritant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irritant)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/3 "2014-02-22T06:47:02Z")
In Detective Comics # 64, from 1942, the Joker was actually executed, in the electric chair, but his henchmen revived him with chemicals. It’s called “The Joker Walks the Last Mile.” There’s also a graphic novel from 1995 called “Devil’s Advocate,” where the Joker is on death row for murders he didn’t commit and Batman has to clear him. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/4 "2014-02-22T07:05:38Z")
> [@irritant](#): > > In Detective Comics # 64, from 1942, the Joker was actually executed, in the electric chair, but his henchmen revived him with chemicals. It’s called “The Joker Walks the Last Mile.” > > There’s also a graphic novel from 1995 called “Devil’s Advocate,” where the Joker is on death row for murders he didn’t commit and Batman has to clear him. Other than these two, no. The Joker commits federal, as well international crimes, and yet he magically avoids being executed. DC Comics logic is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/5 "2014-02-22T17:09:40Z")
“I have the death sentence in 12 systems.” ---
**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/6 "2014-02-22T17:24:53Z")
> [@irritant](#): > > There’s also a graphic novel from 1995 called “Devil’s Advocate,” where the Joker is on death row for murders he didn’t commit and Batman has to clear him. Also known as the story where Batman stops being a hero and becomes an autistic amoral “avatar of justice” who is directly responsible for all of the Joker’s future crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/7 "2014-02-22T21:53:10Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > Also known as the story where Batman stops being a hero and becomes an autistic amoral “avatar of justice” who is directly responsible for all of the Joker’s future crimes. Hey, the fourth Doctor had a chance in “Genesis of the Daleks” to eradicate them, yet decided that maybe history was overall better that they’d existed. Bet he kicked himself over that a few times… ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/8 "2014-02-23T01:00:57Z")
Or this week’s DC animated movie, Superman vs. The Elite. Atomic Skull murders some people, gets captured and put in prison. He escapes, murders more people, and Superman is trying to tell a teenage boy that the decision that got his father murdered is the best one. The only reason why prison is an acceptable solution for blue-moon criminals is because they aren’t likely to get out. If Breivik broke out of prison and murdered another fifty children, you’d be a bloody idiot to just say “Whelp, second time’s the charm!” ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/9 "2014-02-23T01:17:45Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > Gotham doesn’t execute the mentally disturbed. The Joker goes into an insane asylum, remember? I’ve kind of wondered about this point for awhile—does the Joker really qualify as mentally incompetent enough for an [insanity defense](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insanity_defense)? I mean, he’s arguably crazy enough to think his crimes are an awesome idea, but he doesn’t actually seem to lack the comprehension that what he’s doing is _criminal_. Actually, now that I think about it… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/10 "2014-02-23T01:48:43Z")
On JLU, Deadshot was being escorted to the chair when he was rescued by Task Force X. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/11 "2014-02-23T04:43:12Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > I’ve kind of wondered about this point for awhile—does the Joker really qualify as mentally incompetent enough for an [insanity defense](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insanity_defense)? I mean, he’s arguably crazy enough to think his crimes are an awesome idea, but he doesn’t actually seem to lack the comprehension that what he’s doing is _criminal_. He goes through cycles. You really never know what he’s going to be like when he wakes up in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-joker-ever-sentenced-by-a-court-of-law-to-be-executed-in-any-batman-comic-ever/681939/12 "2014-02-23T14:43:46Z")
In the “Devil’s Advocate” story, the Joker was convicted under a new “insane but guilty” law- ironically for a murder he actually didn’t commit. IIRC, after the Joker was cleared by Batman, the law was ruled unconstitutionally cruel and unusual.