First of all, I don't believe in capital punishment.

All right, now that we've got that out of the way: Dzhokhar Tsarnaevā€”convicted on 30 counts for his role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombingā€”was just sentenced to death.

SO THEN WHY THE FUCK DID WE KEEP HIM ALIVE TO PUT HIM ON TRIAL? Why'd they pull him out of that boat, rush him to the hospital, and save his life, if the court is just going to execute him? Oh, I know what you're all going to say: That's how the American "justice system" works. But it's bullshit.

Because now the appeals process begins, which will likely take years, so for everyone who's got the eye-for-an-eye mentality: You're not going to get your much-anticipated schadenfreude for quite some time. So there. Tsarnaev will sit on death row, and then, if he's ever executed, he'll be viewed by his supporters (and they're out there) as a martyr. Where's the justice for the victims in that outcome?

The other option, from the Boston Globe:

If Tsarnaev is sentenced to life, it is almost certain that the US Bureau of Prisons will ship him to the Super Max prison in Colorado, if only because Tsarnaev wouldnā€™t last 15 minutes in general population anywhere. Once there, he would spend 23 hours a day in a 12-by-7-foot cell with a 3-foot-high window that is 4 inches wide. He wonā€™t get a view of the Rockies.

Tsarnaev would feel right at home, as the Super Max is the last destination of every notorious bomber in America. The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, is there. So is Eric Rudolph, who bombed the Atlanta Olympics.

There are even bombers there who share Tsarnaevā€™s twisted view of Islam: Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind behind the first World Trade Center bombing; Zacarias Moussaoui, the 20th hijacker whose 9/11 co-conspirators finished the job Yousef started; Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the underwear bomber; Richard Reid, the shoe bomber.

Not that Tsarnaev would be able to trade jihadi war stories with his fellow travelers. Heā€™d have to talk to himself, because thatā€™s whose company heā€™d be keeping.

So, from a practical point of view, what would be worse? Tsarnaev doing easy time on death row for God knows how many years, as he packs on the pounds and millions and millions are spent on endless appeals, or getting stuck in the Super Max, which a former warden once described as ā€œa clean version of hell.ā€

No, that's hardly justice for the victims either, but is there such a thing when someone does something so heinous?

And, yes, I realize the jurors had to follow the guidelines set before him, and there was little chance they'd decide anything else, considering 17 of the 30 counts carried the possibility of the death penalty.

I also realize that probably some of you commenters are going to have a field day with this, and I don't care.