Is the death penalty justice or revenge?

[Franzl]

No act so absolute as killing could ever be called justice.

[Franzl]

Suppose a convicted serial killer is sentenced to natural life in prison without parole. While in prison the killer manages to fabricate a knife and kills a prison guard. There is no additional incarceration that the justice system can add to the killer's sentence. If the death penalty is used in this case, I would consider it justice, not revenge.

To be honest, that's more an argument against sentences without parole than a justification for capital punishment.

By all means, keep some people locked up for the rest of their natural lives, but it should be subject to review after a certain amount of time in the vast majority of cases. It's ok if the result is that parole shouldn't be granted for whatever reason, but taking away all hope takes away any incentive to rehabilitate.

[Franzl]

Do you also oppose LWOP sentences then?  Because I consider it a functional equivalent....you are sentenced to die within the perimeter of the prison.

Well, I disagree that they're functional equvalents. Everyone has to die at some point, you're not depriving that person of living his life, even if it's a pretty crappy life. The state isn't making an equivalent decision when sentencing him to die in prison at some possibly distant time in the future.

That said, I do oppose LWOP sentences in most cases because I think they're counterproductive. The vast majority of those imprisoned for life could be released after 15, 20, 30 years without posing a severe threat to society.

And for those that are still considered dangerous, or for the very worst of the worst, parole can still be denied. You don't need to deny the possibility of parole from the very beginning, though.

[Franzl]

If the fine were preventative, the level would be set based on the wealth of the perpetrator, but it's not.

It should be.

And, in fact, it is in several countries. Here, you're sentenced to x days of income for non-minor fines.