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You are here: Home / Uncategorized / When Mercy Is Justice: A Psychiatrist’s Warning on the Death Penalty

When Mercy Is Justice: A Psychiatrist’s Warning on the Death Penalty

May 1, 2025 by FADP

“Jeff Hutchinson is convicted of murder and will die in prison. The legal arguments now focus on whether the State of Florida can exercise its entitlement to execute him or will the courts obstruct the desires of the Governor’s office to kill him based on a legal dispute over medical opinion. This struggle illustrates the larger problem with the death penalty in the United States. 

The death penalty is a lie. It does not protect victims, it does not deter thoughtful rational people and it is not for the worst of the worst. Yet government officials would even prefer to kill mentally ill veterans than to accept limits on their desire to expand executions and power. 

Do any of us believe that government and politicians at all levels function without error or abuse? For justice, the death penalty requires a perfection that does not exist. 

For the State of Florida, sparing the life of Hutchinson is not an optional act of mercy, but a required act of justice.”

Joseph E. Thornton, MD

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Dr. Joseph Thornton is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry. He is the Founding Director for the UF-VA UNESCO Bioethics Unit and works clinically in the General Adult Division both inpatient and outpatient services. The views and opinions expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of his employers or any affiliated institutions.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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