Execution justifications combine four elements that neutralize moral objections

Evidence

In sum, there are several elements in the retributionist justification for executing offenders. The first is proportionate punishment; the second is protecting public safety by executing convicted murderers so they cannot kill again; the third strips the lives of offenders of any value or purpose; the fourth construes execution as affirming the offender’s humanity. This combination of justifications, or a subset of them, can remove any moral pangs about executing a human being, especially when someone else has to do it. How someone can coherently be pro-life and pro-death simultaneously remains to be explained (McGuire, 2013). — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1903

Categorization

• DEFINE: Enumerates the four-component retributionist justification structure for capital punishment.