Should prisoners with full life sentences be given the chance to end their life rather than live out their days locked up?
Robot
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ABCDEF7 · M
No, it will defeat the purpose of punishment.
1. The Justice System Isn’t Meant to Facilitate Death.
The purpose of life imprisonment is to remove someone from society as a consequence of serious wrongdoing — not to offer a quicker exit.
2. Life Still Has Value — Even Behind Bars
Even in prison, people can grow, reflect, express remorse, or contribute to the world in small ways (mentoring, writing, art, etc.).
3. Risk of Coerced Decisions
Prisons can be dehumanizing, violent, and isolating. A desire to die might not come from a stable, autonomous place — it could come from untreated mental illness, trauma, or desperation.
4. Amounts to freedom instead of Punishment.
The concern is: Are they choosing death freely, or because prison has broken them.
5. Will set Wrong Trend.
Would people with less serious sentences start asking for the same?
6. Normalisation Vs. Mental Health Care.
There's fear of normalizing death as a solution to suffering instead of trying to improve prison conditions or offer better mental health care.
7. Undermines the Victims’ Sense of Justice.
Some victims’ families feel that a life sentence is about the person having to live with what they’ve done — not escape it. Allowing them to die could feel like letting them off easy, or denying closure.
8. Societal Message.
It sends a broader message that some lives just aren’t worth continuing — even if that person is already being held accountable. That can feed into dangerous ideas about who "deserves" life?
9. Potential for Wrongful Convictions.
If someone is later found innocent, but had already chosen assisted suicide while incarcerated… that’s irreversible. With the number of wrongful convictions we’ve seen exposed by DNA evidence, this risk is very real.
10. Encourage Heinous Crimes.
People who do Heinous crimes don't fear from death. Allowing death could be seen as escaping the sentence — especially for people convicted of heinous crimes.
1. The Justice System Isn’t Meant to Facilitate Death.
The purpose of life imprisonment is to remove someone from society as a consequence of serious wrongdoing — not to offer a quicker exit.
2. Life Still Has Value — Even Behind Bars
Even in prison, people can grow, reflect, express remorse, or contribute to the world in small ways (mentoring, writing, art, etc.).
3. Risk of Coerced Decisions
Prisons can be dehumanizing, violent, and isolating. A desire to die might not come from a stable, autonomous place — it could come from untreated mental illness, trauma, or desperation.
4. Amounts to freedom instead of Punishment.
The concern is: Are they choosing death freely, or because prison has broken them.
5. Will set Wrong Trend.
Would people with less serious sentences start asking for the same?
6. Normalisation Vs. Mental Health Care.
There's fear of normalizing death as a solution to suffering instead of trying to improve prison conditions or offer better mental health care.
7. Undermines the Victims’ Sense of Justice.
Some victims’ families feel that a life sentence is about the person having to live with what they’ve done — not escape it. Allowing them to die could feel like letting them off easy, or denying closure.
8. Societal Message.
It sends a broader message that some lives just aren’t worth continuing — even if that person is already being held accountable. That can feed into dangerous ideas about who "deserves" life?
9. Potential for Wrongful Convictions.
If someone is later found innocent, but had already chosen assisted suicide while incarcerated… that’s irreversible. With the number of wrongful convictions we’ve seen exposed by DNA evidence, this risk is very real.
10. Encourage Heinous Crimes.
People who do Heinous crimes don't fear from death. Allowing death could be seen as escaping the sentence — especially for people convicted of heinous crimes.
