The purpose of her dying in prison is because society demands it. Otherwise the murders she took part in are not bound up (if that makes sense)
To me, and I said the same thing in another thread, the purpose of punishment is partly deterrent and partly to protect society from dangerous people sure - but on a higher level it is a cleansing ritual to rid society of the evil of the crime.
For the victim who gets his car pinched, the ritual requires an appropriate sacrifice - so the villian might get 3 months.
When someone is killed, and worse (for society) when someone who is innocent, young, and beautiful is killed - it is necessary that the sacrifice made of the murderer is full.
If she was released, all of the damage done by the crime seeps into the world again. Even when we talk of her being allowed to die peacefully and with dignity (as Sharon Tate did not) - the horror of the killing comes into people's minds, disturbs them afresh.
If she was a man she should have been hanged, and as she is a woman she should be spared this, but she should certainly die in prison - society demands this - or else the ritual is broken. That women should not be hanged is my own person opinion and I am aware it may seem sexist and paternalistic to some people - and it is a side point to this argument.
She must pay the maximum penalty. There is no room for compassion, she has placed outside of full humanity through her crimes.
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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."
The Gospel of Thomas
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