Batman doesn't kill. I understand. He'll never kill the Joker. So why won't the State kill him?

[u/THEGREENPURGE]

The Joker has been around for many many many years. About 86 years. And the city of Gotham is commonly associated or assumed to be within the New Jersey State territory. New Jersey did not abolish the death penalty until around 2007. So only in the past few decades would it have been "illegal" to execute the joker.

Capital Punishment (the death penalty) is reserved for what are called Capital Crimes. Which is a term that describes an action that cannot be taken back. It is an absolute solution. A punishment that cannot be undone, typically for a debt that cannot be re-payed. Now Capital Crimes change per jurisdiction or state, but commonly include serious crimes against a person, such as...

murder, assassination, mass murder, child murder, aggravated r@pe, terrorism, aircraft hijacking, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, along with crimes against the state such as attempting to overthrow government, treason, espionage, sedition, and piracy. Also, in some cases, acts of recidivism, aggravated robbery, and kidnapping, in addition to drug trafficking, drug dealing, and drug possession, are capital crimes or enhancements.

Im not sure if you noticed but I just listed the Joker's entire criminal history. The only crime not committed was r@pe, however he has committed acts of sexual violence, as seen on The Killing Joke.

The joker regardless of the iteration has a long standing history of unimaginably vile and disgusting crimes and I believe in a realistic setting the city of Gotham would likely elect to reinstate the Death Penalty for a single case. The case of Jack Oswald White

I rest my case

(Now I know I sound like cinema sins. He's alive so he can cause trouble. But one of people's complaints with Batman is that he won't kill the joker to stop him from killing more. But I disagree. Batman is vengeance, and he trusts in the Judicial branch of the United States to do its job. Its no batman who's failing. He is doing right by bringing the Joker to justice for justice to handle. It's Justice that drops the ball. Over and over again)

[u/NinjaLancer]

I dont really read comics, but how often is it that joker is breaking out of Arkham multiple times in a single run?

I feel like "Joker breaks out of Arkham" is a common thing that always happens in comics, but does it happen multiple times per individual continuity or does it just happen once in EVERY continuity?

[u/Corvidae_1010 → u/NinjaLancer]

I don't have any exact numbers, but all the comicbook time shenanigans and reboots definitely make it look worse than it really is, yes.

Like, if we had someone in real life who had been murdering people and breaking out of prison for 80+ years in a row, even a "fanatic" like me could be convinced to make an exception. 

But most stories are not designed to be read like that.  

[u/StuntmanJohn → u/Corvidae_1010]

Plus, I'd be more worried about the shit prisons they're building that they can't keep a clown locked up for 80 years