It has been announced this week that one of the alleged perpetrators (although he has freely confessed) Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be tried in New York for orchestrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The prosecution is rumoured to be asking for the death penalty.
If he is found guilty (and there seems little doubt he will eventually be found so), will he actually be put to death?
Whilst those in favour of the death penalty will argue in favour, there is a very good pragmatic reason why he should not be put to death. If he is executed by the US authorities, he will be regarded as a martyr by the Islamic extremists which will encourage others. Indeed he probably wants to be martyred by being executed; does it make sense to “punish” a mass murderer by giving him what he wants ?
Life imprisonment without parole is a far nastier punishment.
Hopefully someone in the US justice system will take the pragmatic approach and not give him what he wants as punishment and does not sentence him to execution.
But if you do not execute this mass murderer, how can you justify executing others whose crime is less extreme?
With any luck (yes I am opposed to the death penalty), the long term effect of taking the pragmatic approach will be that the death penalty will come to an end in the US.