The Death Penalty and Culpability

[Ender]

What could be done if they had already been on Death Row? A person can’t be killed twice.

A person while he is still alive is at least a theoretical threat to others. At some point, however, a person on death row will (should) be executed, at which point the threat dies with him.

 

[RCIAGraduate]

Ender, on my other point, do you think there can be possible ways to transform our social systems such as schools and social services in order to metaphorically “empty” our prisons within a generation? Or would it take something more, like cultural change?

 

[Ender]

It would take a dramatic cultural change to achieve anything. Unfortunately our culture is changing in the wrong direction. Things will only get worse.

 

[Annie]

I would say that there are people who have suffered worse who did not commit crimes deserving of the death penalty.

Even when an entire society was Catholic, there were still criminals. Some even come from “ideal” backgrounds: the American Psycho guy, Leopold and Loeb, are two well-known cases that spring to mind.

Additionally, some very good people come from very bad backgrounds. “The fault lies not in the stars but in ourselves,” no?

However, to paraphrase something a bishop said, the problem will not be solved until more of us become saints. How can a society have life and grow if the individuals in the society are spiritually dead?