this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2026
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That’s not a threat. “The death penalty” is a lawful punishment carried out by the state in response to conviction of certain crimes, not mob violence (technically). Just because the end result is death, does not mean that prescribing it is a threat, just like how “you should die of pancreatic cancer” isn’t a threat.
Now I’ve got to go shower after saying that the death penalty isn’t mob violence.
If it makes you feel any better it's not mob violence, it just shares the worst aspects of it. Emotion driven desire for vengeance.
It's not a defense of the death penalty to recognize that it's deliberate, planned, and applied under the auspices of the law. It just makes the law look a little worse.
That is true, though. Mob violence doesn't care about evidence, the law, proportionality to the crime, or the victims. It's terrorism built around emotional and fear responses. Lynchings were not the same as a judge amd jury weighing out the death penalty vs. life in prison. Depending on the court, one can even appeal the death penalty ruling, and new evidence can overturn the ruling if there's time.
All you have to do is look at Reddit's response to the Boston Marathon bomber to see evidence of why mob mentality is a bad thing.