Sunday, June 7, 2009

The Death Reward

The Death Reward
From criminal law, we know the death penalty as a deterrent to crime and the ultimate punishment given only to those who deserve it. But from the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp we have discovered something new: the Death Reward.

According to the New York Times, various prisoners at the Camp want to confess and be executed now so they can reap the rewards of martyrdom.

So for one person execution is a punishment, for another a reward. Execution deters one, and allures another. More evidence that the death penalty is really simply maddness.

1 comment:

Pat said...

Even worse than you think. It is a myth that the death penalty deters. No credible evidence exists nor have any reliable academic studies proven a deterrence effect, and certainly none any greater than that for life without parole, the smart way to protect society and punish the worst of the worst.