Should some prisoners be allowed to die?

This article got me to thinking about Martin Bryant, the guy who murdered 35 people at Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia in 1996.

Bryant, who has an IQ of 66 and is considered mentally disabled, is currently serving 35 life sentences and has tried to commit suicide six times since being imprisoned. Philip Nitschke, euthanasia advocate and founder of Exit International had this to say about Bryant's treatment.

What Bryant did is so horrendous I can barely even comprehend it. If he had killed one of my loved ones I might well be wishing for him to be tortured endlessly too. But, like NickFaust stated in the other thread,

"...society is supposed to serve as a counterweight to my baser instincts, it is not supposed to institutionalize them."

I wholeheartedly agree with that statement.

Bryant can't hurt anybody anymore. He also can never have a normal life. It appears that he suffering greatly and obvious that he wishes to end his life.

Prison is supposed to be about the protection of society, right? Or do I have it all wrong? Is it really about revenge and torture?

Should prisoners that have no hope of release be allowed to end their own lives?

I find it weird that the rationalization for death is that a life sentence is torture. However, if the prisoner does want to die, I see no problem with that.

I only have questions, becasue as far as I can see there isn't really an answer to this;

Is allowing someone to commit suicide not the same as the death penalty but without the moral dilemmas that brings about?

Is allowing him to do this giving him an easy way out of the punishment for the crimes he commited

What do the families of his victims have to say about it?

Anyone who thinks that retribution is not an aspect of penal culture, and frankly, a valid one, hasn't been paying fucking attention.

Yes, it's an indictment of society that Bryant was able to deteriorate to the point that he was able to slaughter dozens, but the solution is to move forward, not make it easy for him to kill himself. He was shrewd enough to plan a byzantine murder scheme, if he, as an individual, wants out, he'll find a way.

He walked around with a gun and shot at everyone he came across. That's not exactly shrewd.

I believe that people (ie all adults, not just criminals) have the right to end their own lives and hence, for me it follows that convicted criminals have the right to end their own lives.

deserves a fate worse than death.

If you can work a machine gun, and kill 35 people, with an IQ of 66, then you can serve a punishment for that crime with the same damn brain.

He made several previous trips to the spot in question, measured various bags carefully to make sure the gun would fit, and killed the owners of the cottage he fled to well in advance of the mass killings later.

Why not, give all (long time) prisoners the option to commit suicide. It's their choice and it lightens the load they place on society. It's a self solving problem if I ever saw one.

I think that if you really want to die in prison, rather than serve a life term...you can find a way.

I have to believe that a member of the Aryan Brotherhood would happily dispatch you in exchange for a few cigarettes and an extra dessert.

Machineguns are designed to be easy to use. So easy, you don't have to think about it.

So long as it's long-term prisoners only, I might well be in favour of that.

And so long as there's a quota. If something's really wanted, people will queue for it.

The problem I have is the bastard deserves to suffer. It is actually cheaper to jail someone for life than pay for the lawyers to execute them. Let the sack of shit stew in the hoosegow. The families of his victims should be allowed to beat him with a bat daily as far as I am concerned.

Obviously you've never been to Australia...

*rimshot*