OVERANALYZING THE TEXT

Christi wrote:

I'm guessing that there is no death penalty in the british wizarding community.

The wizarding community would seem to be strongly opposed to the death penalty. We've never heard of anyone being sentenced to death for any crime, and given the ugly mood of the crowd in the Penseive scene of GoF, I imagine that the subject would at least have been raised, had the death penalty been an available option.

For that matter, the fact the Aurors were only authorized to kill as an emergency measure during a time of war (were they allowed to kill in self-defense before then, I wonder?), and that this was generally perceived as a Desperate Measure, would seem to indicate that the wizarding world really is remarkably pacifistic, in its own twisted sort of way.

And being kissed by a dementor would be worse than death, so even wizards who wanted revenge for the reign of terror might be reluctant to call for it.

I get the impression that the Dementor's Kiss is authorized only for those who have managed to escape from Azkaban. The only time we've ever heard of it being officially sanctioned was for Sirius, and the only time we've ever seen it performed was on Crouch Jr—both of them Azkaban escapees.

There's actually a nasty sort of logic at work there, if you think about it. If Azkaban can't hold a wizard, then chances are that nothing short of death will suffice to control him. But the wizarding world doesn't believe in the death penalty. So what on earth are we to do about this dilemma?

Hey, I know! How about the Dementor's Kiss? It's just like death really...except it leaves them alive, so it doesn't violate our objection to capital punishment! Best of all possible worlds. Problem solved.

Ugh. Nasty.

—Elkins, who thinks that wizard justice leaves much to be desired