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"We show, on the contrary, most emphatically our regard for it by the adoption of a rule that he who violates that right in another forfeits it for himself." - John Stuart Mill on the value of life.
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I don't think rights really work this way -- you can't just take them away. If they did, we could torture torturers, rape rapists, take away the right of free speech from those who would censor others, steal from thieves, cruelly and unusually punish those who cruelly and unusually punish, and refuse various protective and basic freedoms offered to all persons who deal with us so long as they have done the same to others. etc.
I don't necessarily think Justice is just about retribution, but about makings things equal. And if you think along these terms, you'll find that most persons convicted of horrible crimes have had horrible lives and have been treated like shit by society. It's not very equal or fair, in my opinion, to kill someone because of what we have made them.