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The conspirators who assassinated Abraham Lincoln being prepared for execution, Washington DC, USA, 1865
(lemmy.world)
this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2024
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It gets tricky there doesn't it?
I am against the death penalty.
This person commited treason against a just government.
I agree with your reply, it still leaves me conflicted though.
The way I see it, treason DESERVES the death penalty, but it shouldn't ever be levied unless there is no other choice (ie a strong possibility of them being sprung, pardoned, or otherwise escape a life sentence by help of their fellow traitors).
Sometimes you don't give people what they deserve because of what it does to you, not because of what it does to them.
The death penalty (which I abhor) ideally would only be used for those who are too dangerous to be kept alive.
I think Napoleon's return is the best example of the consequences of not executing someone. He escaped from Elba and the wars started right back up, resulting in hundreds of thousands of military and civilian deaths in less than 4 months, only for him to be exiled again. If they'd executed him instead of sending him to Elba, the "hundred days" and the Waterloo campaign would never have happened.
With Napoleon specifically, they didn't want to set a precedent that leaders of defeated countries should be executed.
ftfy