SHOULD INMATES SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE BE ALLOWED TO CHOOSE DEATH?
While the debate over the death penalty in the United States rages on, few people realize that life without parole (LWOP) is nothing more than a death sentence on the installment plan. These prisoners, competent enough to either stand trial or plead guilty, should be able to make the decision to end their lives when there is no more viable life to live.
Without regard as to how much it costs to house a prisoner, it is clearly in the best interest of society - and to prisoners - to allow LWOP inmates to decide that, like terminally ill patients, the quality of life in prison and hopelessness in the knowledge that freedom will never again be theirs is such that death is preferred. To allow prisoners the option to choose to end what is effectively an irreversible and terminal situation is not only humane, but in the public interest.
Like most life forms, the primary function of human beings is procreation and protection of offspring. Humans also strive to innovate and create, to explore and to communicate ideas and thoughts, to enrich the lives of themselves and others. For LWOP inmates, these basic human needs are stifled, considered threats and therefore prohibited in the interest of security - whether the threats are real, imagined or pretextual as a means to an end.
Whatever the wrong committed (and whether actually innocent or not), LWOP prisoners are effectively sterilized, and prevented from bearing offspring. Whether this is intentional state-sponsored eugenics to prevent the "bad seed" from spreading, or logical considerations (such as to prevent the creation of a child by a parent who is not financially responsible) is of no consequence, the outcome is the same for while some prison systems allow conjugal visits, they are rare, and not usually available to LWOP prisoners.
LWOP prisoners who have no outside contacts or resources will have very limited financial or other means of support while incarcerated, and because of their security levels will rarely be allowed prison jobs that will pay more than that necessary to keep them in basic hygiene items. Of course, many prisons have mandatory job assignments which pay the inmates nothing at all.
Limited means often preclude indigent prisoners from expressing personal, political or other views or opinions to the outside. Where such views or opinions are somehow transmitted, they are heavily censored or simply blocked by prison staff. Access to the internet (the hub of today's information exchange) by prisoners is strictly forbidden in nearly all instances, and inmate telephone charges are sickeningly exorbitant as a result of kickbacks paid to prison administrators by phone companies for exclusive contracts. Some prison libraries are woefully inadequate and provide little or no opportunities to keep up on current events. For example, the "library" at the Idaho State Correctional Center (ISCC) provides no newspapers or other periodicals, and books can only be ordered from a very limited supply - there is no walk-in library. Televisions sold on the street for $25 to $50 are sold exclusively via commissary at a cost of nearly $300, unobtainable by a majority of the population. Dayroom televisions are rarely tuned to news or other informative programs, but to sports or reality shows.
Only those LWOP prisoners with dedicated and loving friends and family have the opportunity to exchange ideas with the outside world in any meaningful way, and it is difficult to maintain those types of relationships over significant periods of time. This is especially true where there is no conceivable end to the obligations, little to no possibility of being physically together in the outside world, or having a normal life with an LWOP prisoner. People move on, the world continues and life gets in the way.
It is the present and prospective quality of life that determines whether or not someone may legally end their own life in those jurisdictions where assisted suicide is allowed. For an LWOP prisoner, every day is filled with suffering, and the prognosis is terminal. Allowing prisoners to check out in a humane and controlled manner (after some counseling and mental evaluations) rather than sloppily cutting at their wrists or trying to hang themselves is certainly in everyone's interest.
(Note: Author is not suicidal, and does not have any intentions of hurting himself or others.)
Without regard as to how much it costs to house a prisoner, it is clearly in the best interest of society - and to prisoners - to allow LWOP inmates to decide that, like terminally ill patients, the quality of life in prison and hopelessness in the knowledge that freedom will never again be theirs is such that death is preferred. To allow prisoners the option to choose to end what is effectively an irreversible and terminal situation is not only humane, but in the public interest.
Like most life forms, the primary function of human beings is procreation and protection of offspring. Humans also strive to innovate and create, to explore and to communicate ideas and thoughts, to enrich the lives of themselves and others. For LWOP inmates, these basic human needs are stifled, considered threats and therefore prohibited in the interest of security - whether the threats are real, imagined or pretextual as a means to an end.
Whatever the wrong committed (and whether actually innocent or not), LWOP prisoners are effectively sterilized, and prevented from bearing offspring. Whether this is intentional state-sponsored eugenics to prevent the "bad seed" from spreading, or logical considerations (such as to prevent the creation of a child by a parent who is not financially responsible) is of no consequence, the outcome is the same for while some prison systems allow conjugal visits, they are rare, and not usually available to LWOP prisoners.
LWOP prisoners who have no outside contacts or resources will have very limited financial or other means of support while incarcerated, and because of their security levels will rarely be allowed prison jobs that will pay more than that necessary to keep them in basic hygiene items. Of course, many prisons have mandatory job assignments which pay the inmates nothing at all.
Limited means often preclude indigent prisoners from expressing personal, political or other views or opinions to the outside. Where such views or opinions are somehow transmitted, they are heavily censored or simply blocked by prison staff. Access to the internet (the hub of today's information exchange) by prisoners is strictly forbidden in nearly all instances, and inmate telephone charges are sickeningly exorbitant as a result of kickbacks paid to prison administrators by phone companies for exclusive contracts. Some prison libraries are woefully inadequate and provide little or no opportunities to keep up on current events. For example, the "library" at the Idaho State Correctional Center (ISCC) provides no newspapers or other periodicals, and books can only be ordered from a very limited supply - there is no walk-in library. Televisions sold on the street for $25 to $50 are sold exclusively via commissary at a cost of nearly $300, unobtainable by a majority of the population. Dayroom televisions are rarely tuned to news or other informative programs, but to sports or reality shows.
Only those LWOP prisoners with dedicated and loving friends and family have the opportunity to exchange ideas with the outside world in any meaningful way, and it is difficult to maintain those types of relationships over significant periods of time. This is especially true where there is no conceivable end to the obligations, little to no possibility of being physically together in the outside world, or having a normal life with an LWOP prisoner. People move on, the world continues and life gets in the way.
It is the present and prospective quality of life that determines whether or not someone may legally end their own life in those jurisdictions where assisted suicide is allowed. For an LWOP prisoner, every day is filled with suffering, and the prognosis is terminal. Allowing prisoners to check out in a humane and controlled manner (after some counseling and mental evaluations) rather than sloppily cutting at their wrists or trying to hang themselves is certainly in everyone's interest.
(Note: Author is not suicidal, and does not have any intentions of hurting himself or others.)