So I've been thinking a lot lately about prison members who are spending the rest of their lives in prison without the possibility of parole? I was thinking, why not just kill these people off, preferably in a way that doesn't cost as much as we would be spending keeping them alive for the rest of their lives?

This is something that doesn't really make sense to me. I always thought rotting away in a prison, completely devoid of any kind of freedom, is more cruel and unusual than simply being put to death, but that's just a personal opinion of mine. I'm sure there are more than enough people out there who would rather be in prison than die, and I don't hold that against those people. I've just felt that, if you are literally unable to contribute to society in any way, shape, or form, than society shouldn't be contributing to you. I don't mean that people who don't contribute should all be put to death. I'm talking specifically about the prison members here. They are as comfortable as they possibly can be (at least, in the presence of other criminals), completely funded by taxpayer money they quite frankly don't deserve.

I've had quite the paradigm shift in personal politics recently, and I guess I'm beginning to shift more to the "personal freedoms" territory of politics, and I simply don't think people should be taken care of by society if they can't contribute back. FWIW, I also believe that the completely mentally degenerated, and I mean those who can not function without heavy assistance, should be taken care of privately, whether it be a single person, a family, or even a company. But I'll save that for an entry, or another thread, or something.

The question is, do you believe those who are in prison for life, without the possibility of parole, should simply be put to death?

Exactly. It's more cruel. Death is too good for some people.

Maybe we could get them to do some sort of work in there and if they don't do that, then kill 'em. So help to pay back your debt to society, or death. Works for me!

Cost of execution > cost of life in prison. Appeals process in death penalty cases far exceeds the amount required to keep them incarcerated.

@kein: Except life sentences get appealed as well, and probably moreso than death sentences, seeing as they far outnumber those on death row.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29552692/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

i probably wouldn't mind if they were put to work somehow, rather than just sitting in there. do some drug testing on them or something. make them useful.

@& skull

What a brilliant idea! Make them into lab rats!

Have you read the news lately? Two men were recently released from jail after a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Why? The Innocence Project found evidence that proved their innocence. Anomalies should be the reason why the death sentence isn't exactly fair for every criminal with a life sentence without the possibility of parole. And let's not forget the Constitution promises us a fair trial (or trials), including the costly appeals process. I cannot disagree with work programs, which a large percentage of jails and prisons have. It keeps the prisoners busy and productive.

the government should not have the right to kill people, no mater their crime. yes IMO there are some crimes i think people should be killed for, and there are some people who even admit their guilt. but becasue the sentencing has been wrong before, and becasue the government shouldn't have that kind of power, the death penalty is wrong. death should be left to god/nature, which ever you believe has the last say i this life. i do hate the fact that we pay for their meals, cable tv, and housing while they sit around. i think some kind of work program could be good, or we could just ship them off to a barren island surrounded by automatic gun turrets so they cant ever leave, or watch tv again lol.

I say we bring back the good ole Fashioned Southern Chain Gang. We can kill 2 birds with ONE stone, per se.

We can find all the illegal immigrants and ship them home...and then fill those jobs with the chain gangs.