Life without parole is worse than the death penalty.

>"Can you cite your sources that life imprisonment is worse than capital punishment?" I don't need sources for the generalization that life without parole is worse than death, because it is just that, a generalization that cannot be proven by one specific source. However, I will provide them for individual points. >"The quote states how the effectiveness of life in prison without parole prevents the moral corruption of the United States Criminal Justice system. This corruption as stated in Mr. Conrad's book is the death penalty's justification via retaliatory justice which impedes the retributive justice system of the US." That it is a quote rather than your own opinion doesn't make it any more true than yours or than mine. It is still just Conrad's opinion, and you cite no sources that he gives, nor does the quote give any indication that he has any. Even if this quote was completely objective and keenly posited, it would only show that capital punishment is bad (in that it is a little overblown and vengeful), not that life without parole is any better. >"The death penalty is an anachronism of which society must purge itself so that the process of retributive justice may contribute to order and solidarity rather than to the inflammation of hostility." I take special issue with this. The death penalty is not an anachronism, as it continues to show popular support (1) and only without popular support could it run counter to popular ideals of order and justice. Also, life without parole is more conducive to the inflammation of hostility, as well as more cruel to prisoners, but I've mentioned that before and have not yet substantively backed it up, so here goes: Life without parole, when the death penalty is another option, is often overly hastily applied because the assumption lingers that it is less serious. This has resulted in LWOP (as I will henceforth refer to it) being applied when, had LWOP not been an option, the accused would not have been likely to be sentenced to death, if they had even been eligible (2), and would have received some sentence with parole. LWOP routinely puts inmates through "loss of friends, self-esteem and personal identity, social role, professional identity, autonomy, and personal possessions" (2), in University of Kentucky researcher Glenn Abraham's words. While it is likely that inmates sentenced to death experience these same woes while they wait, they do not have to wait as long, plus they always have the hope of leaving. LWOP sentencees, in contrast, lose their dignity when sentenced, as the state demonstrates with each conviction that it does not care enough either to carry out what it feels to its conclusion or to give the accused any chance of leaving. Your second quote seems more reasonable, but it also fails to address the possibility that LWOP is more damaging to prisoners than the death penalty is. Also, it is uncommon for the cases of LWOP sentencees to ever be challenged, especially later on than they would have been executed if they'd gotten death. Compensation does little to compensate, as the time is lost forever and prison has still done its work. (1) Jones, Jeffrey. "Support for the Death Penalty 30 Years After the Supreme Court Ruling." Gallup; June 30, 2006. (2) Abraham, Glenn J. "Prisoners Serving Life Without Parole: A Qualitative Study and Survey." University of Kentucky; 2011.