I think he is trying to make the point, one that I have made many times, that life in prison is a far worse punishment than execution.
The best punishment for all of these guys...is to send them to middle of Montana....max security place...no work, no books, no one to talk to, only 1 hour per day outside with absolutely no contact with people. You stay in your cell and even eat your meals there. Most of these guys would commit suicide within two years and we'd be out of this whole argument. Once you take away human contact...people slide fast. They have no reason to exist if they can't communicate with someone.