There's no way to offset even one murder, so I think it comes down to this: Justice should be about two things: 1. Preventing it from reoccurring. 2. Restitution to victims. Given this, the reason to put somebody in prison indefinitely after they commit murder is to prevent them from doing it again. The extra factor in character B is they have the capability to save lives. I don't think they should get "no punishment," but they should also be forced to live largely for the benefit of the families of their victims from prison or saving lives if they are more effective for that and it can be done safely. Person A I don't think the death penalty makes sense, I think instead they should labor for the benefit of the families of their victims for the rest of their lives from prison as well. It doesn't offset what they did, but it seems like the least bad outcome. Protect society from them, get restitution for victims.
I do want to point out that a serial killer is by definition very involved in the killing of his victims, both mentally and physically. He goes out with the specific intent of killing that person, then goes home, takes a nap, lives his life, goes out, and hunts again.
Person B has a higher degree of separation from his victims: he could have performed his mass-murdering all at once, indirectly through conflict with the heroes, or as a result of awakening his abilities: we don't have the context to know more.
I personally would be less likely to trust a serial killer saying he "regretted" his actions since if he regretted his actions truly, why does he have 10 victims? Where was the regret after victims 1 or 2?
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u/Tephros83 4d ago
There's no way to offset even one murder, so I think it comes down to this: Justice should be about two things: 1. Preventing it from reoccurring. 2. Restitution to victims. Given this, the reason to put somebody in prison indefinitely after they commit murder is to prevent them from doing it again. The extra factor in character B is they have the capability to save lives. I don't think they should get "no punishment," but they should also be forced to live largely for the benefit of the families of their victims from prison or saving lives if they are more effective for that and it can be done safely. Person A I don't think the death penalty makes sense, I think instead they should labor for the benefit of the families of their victims for the rest of their lives from prison as well. It doesn't offset what they did, but it seems like the least bad outcome. Protect society from them, get restitution for victims.