Warning: I intended this to be a short response but quickly began rambling on and on.
Life in Prison (Parole)
I am beginning to think both capital punishment and life without parole are immoral.
Yeah exactly, life without parole is certainly "immoral" ... 
Immoral was probably a poor word choice. I don't have any authority to declare anything about morality. I will say that putting someone in prison without even the
possibility of ever getting out doesn't seem to do anything positive.
Without the possibility of parole prisoners are more likely to commit more crimes in prison, having little left to lose.
The possibility of parole may help prevent crime within prison. If their behaviour continues to be negative, obviously they wouldn't be granted parole. But just because their behaviour may be positive, that doesn't mean they would necessarily ever be granted parole. This is important to keep in mind. And the public can rest easy knowing that truly horrible people will likely never be granted parole anyway. In the case of Breivik, I don't think he would ever be granted parole.
I also think it is wise to have another layer of oversight to correct for the overzealous actions of judges who may be campaigning to appear tough on crime (ugh) and juries that dish out ridiculous sentences.
Finally, keep in mind that I love shoes. I like to try on the shoes of the prisoner - I would certainly want to have the possibility of parole available. After all, what if I'm innocent? I need that hope that my life isn't over. The shoes of victims are also worth trying on. If I was killed by a terrorist, serial killer, or someone else, what punishment do I feel evens out the loss of the rest of my life? These shoes are closely related to those of the victim's family, friends, and community. What punishment would make me feel okay about the loss?
Where I arrive after I try on these shoes eventually leads me to believe that it doesn't matter what these people feel, because whatever punishment you choose will never truly satisfy. You cannot quantify someone's life into a number of years in prison. Putting someone else to death or taking away the rest of their life does not undo or equate to the original crime. Unfortunately the only way to make the friends, family, and community feel okay is time and grieving. It
feels like it would satisfy them to take away the perpetrator's life, but it inevitably doesn't. No one wins.
What I'm left with is rather cold. It's just the question of what society ought to do with someone who has broken a rule. I think that this is a fairer way to look at things. It's informed by the realities of what happens in prisons. The goal now isn't necessarily rehabilitation as much as simply finding a calculated punishment that fits a crime, with systems in place to correct for any imbalances (such as parole, which also might serve to prevent more crime).
Uh, I don't quite get what your point is here. Shall we make prisoner's lives worse so that we feel better about poor people in developing countries? Wouldn't this make more sense as an argument for raising the amount foreign aid we offer? Or perhaps you think we should ship prisoners overseas to dry dusty islands on the ass end of the globe...
You need to understand something about why things like this happen: distracted inmates mean fewer behavioural problems. Bored prisoners make their own entertainment, and when you mix together a toxic brew of personalities, a lot of that entertainment comes at the expense of other people.
I'm sure lots of people wake up every day exhilerated by the unfathomable potential that the freedom to play the latest video games offers.. when they're 14. Prisoners still are stuck in the same building, with the same people, bland food, strict schedule, lack of privacy and agency, and little contact with their loved ones.
I'm not saying you should feel sorry for them and so give them toys to play with. I'm saying that video games mean nothing substantial and make the lives of the prison staff easier.
Poll
