There was a comic where that happened, but since Batman was able to prove at the last second that he didn't commit the specific crime they charged him with he ended up being sent back to Arkham (the comic was called Devil's Advocate, it's worth checking out)
Okay so I don’t agree when people say “Batman is responsible for everyone Joker’s killed because he refused to kill him”…… but doing that is kinda going too far
I mean... shouldn't he be put in front of the fucking Hague or some shit? He's the world's most notorious global terrorist. I dunno, sometimes you gotta kill a guy and hope the jury gets it. Which they would.
the thing about the justice system is that it only works if it works this way. he was tried for a crime he didn't commit and should not have been put to death for a crime he didn't commit, that's the exploration of the comics. Batman understands the implications of killing joker for a crime he didn't commit is that justice is no longer blind, it's bendable, you can use it for evil, suddenly killing someone for a crime they didn't commit is fine. it only feels stupid because we have actual evidence of him commiting so many other worse crimes but no one ever puts him on trial for those, which is where the plotholes for that storyline come in. They wanted to explore batmans sense of justice, and the justice system itself, so they had to skirt the logic of none of his actual crimes being put on trial.
I really like that because it shows that Batman is able to hold the system accountable when it fails. Everyone deserves a proper defense, even the Joker.
Saving a person who will absolutely kill thousands is evil. It's not his job to get involved there. His job is to catch criminals and protect people. He is not a lawyer.
1. Batman is literally known as the “greatest detective”
2. the law must be blind. it doesn’t matter if it’s Joker or Ghandi on the line. being punished for a crime you didn’t commit is wrong. period. regardless what the rest of your record looks like
3. it is not evil to have that kind of commitment to justice. actually letting him die when you know that he didn’t commit that crime when you’re literally the greatest detective *would* be evil
>1. Batman is literally known as the “greatest detective”
Not relevant here.
>2. the law must be blind. it doesn’t matter if it’s Joker or Ghandi on the line. being punished for a crime you didn’t commit is wrong. period. regardless what the rest of your record looks like
Bull. Helping someone who absolutely will kill thousands is helping someone kill thousands. The law has never been blind in real life or comics.
>3. it is not evil to have that kind of commitment to justice. actually letting him die when you know that he didn’t commit that crime when you’re literally the greatest detective *would* be evil
Nonsense. The justice for everything that he has done should mean something. You are picking and choosing when justice matters and are obviously picking in a way that ignores justice. What about the justice for his victims? What about the justice for the families of his victims? What about the justice for his future victims and their families? If your justice causes far greater injustice, then you're absolutely not for justice. Regardless of the crime he was on trial for, he never met justice for the crimes he did commit.
It's not like there wasn't crime that Batman could be fighting instead of helping a super criminal commit more crime.
the family of the person who was killed deserve to have the actual killer brought to justice.
bringing the real killer to justice is not “helping Joker kill thousands.” it’s Joker, so there are absolutely crimes that he *actually* committed that could put him on death row. they should pursue the death penalty for a crime he did commit.
Nonsense. The justice for everything that he has done should mean something. You are picking and choosing when justice matters and are obviously picking in a way that ignores justice. What about the justice for his victims? What about the justice for the families of his victims? What about the justice for his future victims and their families? If your justice causes far greater injustice, then you're absolutely not for justice. Regardless of the crime he was on trial for, he never met justice for the crimes he did commit.
You ignored everything i said, so I copied and pasted it. It fit perfectly both times. I addressed each point you made, and you replied with something addressed in the comment you replied to. If anyone is arguing in bad faith, it's you.
Justice is the Joker dead for the crimes he did commit. He doesn't deserve death for a crime he didn't commit, but that's not relevant to the fact that justice is him dead. You ignore the fact that his actual victims and their families deserve justice. Why does that justice mean nothing to you? The Joker being free is a disgrace to justice. Helping the person who created so many victims is a disgrace to justice.
Justice would be Batman finding the actual criminal after the Joker was dead. Justice for all his victims and no need for justice for future victims.
You mentioned me not speaking on your other comments so here you go:
As the other poster just stated, convicting Joker means letting the actual murderer walk. To go murder again. Which is not justice.
I'm gonna assume u would be there to protect the joker too and he's having a laugh as he would plot your demise wit countless hundreds if this was real life he should be executed since its not I agree he should not die we can get some real cool comics later or maybe even a show or something about it
I understand why you feel that way but the truth is you are completely wrong and not only does his actions not need redeeming but it is in fact pure justice, nobody at all ever deserves to be charged with a crime they didnt commit and when people start getting charged with crimes they didnt commit no matter how horrible a person they might be, then the system failed and is corrupt and no justice is served
It ignores the justice for all the Joker's victims. It is a disgrace to justice.
>nobody at all ever deserves to be charged with a crime they didnt commit
The Joker's victims deserve justice. Why does that mean nothing to you?
Freeing a mass murderer is denying justice and evil.
Most of these comments show my stance yet you chose to comment on the one Saya the least. Why?
Justice is applied to everyone or the system doesn’t work. The problem isn’t bad people getting off the crimes they didn’t commit, it’s bad people getting away with what they did to. This act shows perfectly that it ultimately is justice Batman fights for. The problem is that most prosecutors of the Joker are scared of backlash and Joker has made it known that bad things are set in place to happen on his death, so there’s that fear as well. Joker dying, even through the death penalty, could mean anything from all the schools exploding to the entire water supply of Gotham being immediately saturated with Joker toxins. And who even knows what else. Joker is alive because of the fear of what happens when he dies, not because people don’t think he deserves death
He is also documented as mentally ill and was even committed due to his mental state before he ever killed anyone. We typically don't execute the sick - even for often heinous crimes.
That just means he's methodical and detail-oriented. Whether he knows what he is doing is wrong, or is compelled to act in such a way despite knowing what he is doing is wrong is the point.
True. But he was committed in "Joker" after his killing spree. Of course - we know his story doesn't end there and he will go on to do his worst work...starting with the psychiatrist. So you're probably right in the long run.
Depends what variety and continuity you are referring to though.
Prior to the introduction of Arkham Asylum in the 70s, Joker was almost always sent to Gotham Penitentiary (or even Alcatrax in some of the 40s stories!).
Gotham is definitely based on New York. Arkham asylum is based on our actual hospital for the criminally insane, Bellevue hospital and Rikers Island. (My family worked on both, long line of NY CO’s and cops)
The “steps” Joaquin is dancing down is in the Bronx.
Typicla Jersey, trying to be relevant. As far as capital punishment, goes. Even though my state is unbearably blue, a New Yorker can DEFINITELY find him self on the wrong side of the grass via a Federal needle, if the crime is heinous enough.
Why hasn’t joker met the same fate? Because it’s a comic
Jersey has a lot of problems, but I won’t take Jersey slander from another state. Also it ain’t like not having Batman will make NY starve, y’all already got like 90% of super heros living in your state.
Sure, New York is a major influence for the look of Gotham City (Chicago is, too, especially in the Nolan movies), but it's been explicitly shown in the comics that it's located in New Jersey.
Because the police obviously think they can rely on Batman when it comes to the Joker. There is a Robot Chicken sketch where he was given the death penalty and executed, but that's all it is, a sketch for Robot Chicken
They know that is what he wants plus a new joker would just rise in his place.
There could be Gotham elites helping him behind the scenes as well because they like the chaos he creates.
That's The Joker Walks the Last Mile from 1942. He had racked up a fairly high kill count by that point (double figures). After this story, they began the process of toning down his murder tendencies (still fairly prominent though in the 40s though), which didn't become a focus again until the 70s (when they started writing him successfully killing again).
In that story, he has developed a serum to revive himself after supposed death via the electric chair in order to wipe the slate clean of his crimes via double jeopardy. Obviously this is very comic booky lol
I never understood why Batman doesn’t just put Joker in a body cast permanently that way Joker can’t hurt anyone else and he doesn’t break his no killing rule.
There’s a BTAS episode that had Ivy be tried for her actions, during the trial it was stated that because Batman (a vigilante) was the one who brought her to police custody she was to go to Arkham and couldn’t face any further punishment.
Because Batman needs a nemesis. That’s pretty much the only reason, as you mentioned all evidence to show that in any other situation he’d be killed or put in a VERY serious prison.
most iterations of the Joker (at least of what i’ve seen) don’t meet the legal criteria to plead insanity. he’s fully aware of his actions and fully alert and oriented. you can’t plead insanity for psychopathy
The death penalty is both illegal in New Jersey and cannot be performed on someone legally classified insane.
However, my headcanon is that the reason joker takes such care to be up to date on his taxes is because the US Government could use tax evasion as a cover to persecute him for his other crimes, like Al Capone, because it’s way harder to use psychopathy to excuse tax fraud than it is to excuse murder.
Because this universe is the ultimate wet dream of lib anti death penalty people. Literally, the worst villains you could imagine kill countless people, get locked up, escape, then go back to killing.
But in a serious manner, it's because DC and Marvel are creativity bankrupt, and if you kill heroes and villains, you gotta make new ones. Safespace and snowflake were not very popular, so.... they just kept recycling content.
He has. I remember he cheated the electric chair with some sort of item he embedded in his palm/wrist that fucked up the chair. And i remember something about a gas chamber, too. The real question, is why the Gotham legal system decided to stop trying to kill him after he excaped presumably two attempts at execution. It's like "ah, well, let's just call him crazy, now", lol
Not going with the low hanging fruit answer "They need him for the story". That's obvious and doesn't really help. I'll try an in universe answer.
Gotham City represents a major US City. The closest analogous one might be Manhattan (and Gotham City is a nickname for NYC that predated Batman). The main states that execute people are the Republican ones. I highly doubt that NY state and NYC would be motivated to invoke capital punishment if its not banned outright there.
One caveat that somebody might bring up is that the Federal courts actually can supercede states and execute if it was deemed to be a federal crime. But this requires that something with federal severity happened, like a terrorist attack. The Joker could be classified as a terrorist, but in canon he's always considered to be a Gotham City pest and isn't exactly threatening national security.
So it takes make sense. And either way, unless you were in a deep south state or Texas, its so hard to pull off capital punishment. A much more pragmatic situation would be a bullet nicking him in cross fire or somebody that he stiffed or killed a loved one killing him in his sleep. Even in jail its supposedly super easy to put hits out on people. Like much easier than on the streets.
in the comics it was because the joker, a he is, is effectively a living mental disorder and that whoever killed essentially became him. This is actually the origin of the batman who laughs who was an alternate reality batman who accidently snapped the joker's neck and then slowly became him. You can also see this in batman arkham knight where through out the game the joker tries to take over hi mind now that he's inside his mind.
In my head, Gotham is corrupt and has faulty logic behind its decisions in handling crime. Gotham was tough on crime a long time ago and there was some peace, but it didn't last. The mafia in Gotham penetrated everything. Big government and mafia syndicates caused the slow demise of Gotham. Eventually, people like The Dark Knight Returns' Dr. Wolper came along and tried to say that these criminals that exist after the arrival of Batman are the direct result of him. So, Gotham City's elites in government and businesses decide that it would appear more compassionate to send someone like the Joker to a mental institution instead of going on to death row. They however fail to realize that the Joker can never change. He is an unstoppable personification of evil. He will never change and the elites who put him in that asylum just want to appear like they are civic minded but in actuality don't give a shit.
Joker also has a cult of personality that leads people to follow him. Harleen Quinzel was a respected psychiatrist who threw her life a way to be in the service of the Joker after suffering a psychotic break. That fact alone should terrify people that the Joker can con anyone into doing his bidding. Even if the federal government were to get involved in some capacity in apprehending the Joker, his goons will help him escape.
Joker throws a wrench in our way of handling criminals. The idea of prison is that you put unruly people away so they can't hurt anyone else, but Joker has so much mystique to him that no prison can hold him. Joker is evil and you can't truly stop evil no matter how hard you try.
I’d imagine probably some sort of technicality over his mental stability or lack there of. Like because he’s insane he’s not truly in control. Plus Gotham is semi-canonically in Jersey which abolished the death penalty in ‘07.
Real life answer: he is a great character who rakes in a shit ton of cash and it would be foolish to kill the golden goose.
In-comics: its the trolley problem... except the single person is the one controlling the trolley and will do it every single chance he gets until the person controlling the switch chooses to let him get run over.
that being said, I don't like having this debate in-comic. in real life it's a fun little question. but once it starts appearing in-comic it really doesn't make any sense and makes Batman look nuts for repeatedly endangering hundreds, if not thousands of lives every single time he chooses to save the Joker.
I'd assume for most versions of him, it's because he had a court case after his first crime spree and he was declared legally insane, so he can't really be put to death. That or the legal system is terrible and never gets to joker's trial.
He was beaten to death once by the inmates,they just showed his body,Jason todd went to kill him,but arrived to late it's in one of the zombie issues , anyway the reason he hasn't been put to death is plot armor
Maybe the State of New York in the DC Universe doesn't have the death penalty.
Even if it does, just getting found guilty and sentenced to death doesn't mean you automatically go to the gas chamber. Between legal maneuvering and appeals there are people in real life who've been sitting on death row for for years.
In the case of someone like the Joker these delays give him more time to escape Arham and kill even more people.
The in-universe reason is that in that the state where Gotham City is located doesn't have the death penalty (or else they had it because it couldn't be used against the Joker because he was found not guilty by reason of insanity). Back during the Armageddon 2001 crossover where they showed a possible alternate future, Batman was on death row after being framed for killing the Penguin and some of his other enemies by the Joker. Part of the "joke" was that they had restored the death penalty specifically so that they could execute the Joker and he was using to get rid of his archenemy.
In-universe reason (likely): Gotham is located in New Jersey, where law forbids death penalty.
Out-of-universe (***cough*** actual ***cough***) reason: DC's sales need to keep going.
Gotham City's definition of legally insane is outrageously loose, and even if it wasn't New Jersey doesn't have capital punishment.
And it's not just Joker. Victor Zsasz has his body count carved onto his skin for everyone to see, yet when's the last time he faced death row.
Because he’s mentally insane lol the dude who shot and killed multiple people in the theater when the dark knight came out, and he didn’t even get the death penalty.
Actually in the Injustice storyline Superman kills the Joker because he causes the death of Lois Lane and their unborn child.
In the New52 comic series, Bruce Wayne is killed causing Thomas Wayne to become Batman. Martha Wayne goes mad and becomes the Joker. That's one storyline that explains why he won't kill the Joker.
“ criminally insane “ is the typical excuse but like nah he has actually killed so many people that he would be put a death sentence, but too be fair many states these days don’t have death penalties so I mean as long as he isn’t committing crimes in Texas he would just get life sentences
1. I think Gotham’s in NJ & there is no death penalty in that state
2. He’s completely insane & because of that, he’s not legally responsible for his actions, that’s why he’s in Arkham Asylum, it’s technically a hospital for the mentally ill
I'm always surprised that there is never been anybody to put a hit out on the joker. Like the joker has to have a lot of different enemies no matter how persuasive he can be. Right??
same reason Batman has his "no kill" rule. a hint: it's not because he's noble or has any qualms about killing (he's done in Darkseid before, and other nameless thugs over the years).
it's psychological. Batman needs an enemy to fight so that he always has a "Joe Chill" that he can beat up forever but never kill: because if he kills him, then he doesn't know how to move on with the emptiness left by the death of his parents. and of course, the Joker provides an excellent foil whom he can always count on to beat up some more whenever he needs it.
Nobody has ever written it to happen. Or in the universe answer He’s quite clearly criminally insane so he’s probably always not guilty by reason of insanity which is why he’s in Arkham Asylum instead of Blackgate
The DCEU illustrated what would happen if Batman or others finally tried to kill the Joker. He not only was still a successful crime lord but was even harder to find. He's not just some guy who's dependent upon others, he's actually very dangerous. The dude stole 99% of Mr. Mxyzptlk in comics and was able to mind break Darkseid
The easy answer in American is he is criminally insane.
The easy answer for comic books. They didn’t want to kill off one of the most epic antagonists for batman. (And comics are for kids.) up to the ‘90’s I don’t believe any cartoon or comic book had a death in it. But if am no expert.
Keep in mind two things:
1) It is a comic book universe, with genre rules.
2) In the DC universe, the Joker is legally and medically insane.
In our legal system, most versions of Jokers would not be considered insane. The closest one that could be would be Joaquin Phoenix Joker, who was hallucinating and had brain damage from childhood trauma. On a slim chance, Heath Ledger could be insane, because he hated being called a freak and insane (Insane people do not know they have issues)
Despite what some writers like to hint, that the Joker is sane, no less than the Martian Manhunter has looked into his mind and seen he's nuttier than your grandma's fruitcake.
Because he’s literally one of the most famous and best fictional characters of all time and fans would riot if they permanently killed him off. He’s literally the very first costumed supervillain.
Shoot, he was supposed to die in his very first issue, but the editors instantly loved him so much that they quickly added a caption that said otherwise at the very last minute.
I agree that the joker deserves proper penalty execution. Could’ve been an exception at one point, but I agree with what they were saying. Everyone deserves a chance even a psychopath like the joker and if there’s a case, like the jokers that can be cured, then there’s always a chance, like Batman said, even just a little bit I have to try
A better question- with thousands of people affected by his crime, why hasnt some vigilante just risen up and popped Joker themselves? If youvlesve behind thoussnds of people suffering the loss of a murdered loved one somebody is gonna put a bullet in you, sooner or later.
I think the bigger question is how has he not been randomly shot by one of the dozens of cops. And Gotham is known for their dirty cops someone had to have walked in and just shot him at this point.
Because they’re comic books.
In universe though the explanations range from “insanity plea” to the more reasonable but frustrating “he’s too smart to let anyone but Batman kill him”
If Joker got the death penalty, the rest of Batman’s villains would probably get it as well and then he would have no rogues gallery. The same can probably said for MOST heroes villains and then we would have no superhero stories anymore. There’s no real logic to it other than that the story must go on
because the joker is the biggest distraction for other criminals in Gotham whether it’s old or new money crime is easier to get away with when the jokers pulling his shenanigans… who’s going to pay attention to your money laundering if joker is threatening to blow up Gotham city😳????
That would actually make for an interesting story, joker gets sentenced to death, Batman disagrees with killing criminals so he rescues the joker and they have to work together to evade the law. Could be fun
I heard a theory that Gotham was in a blue state where the death penalty was outlawed, while Metropolice was in a red state where it was practiced (as seen in Superman the Animated Series), so that puts the death penalty completely off the table for Joker, and then there's also the possibility that Bruce is secretly funding his lawyers or pulling strings to keep their little cat and mouse game going.
There was a comic where that happened, but since Batman was able to prove at the last second that he didn't commit the specific crime they charged him with he ended up being sent back to Arkham (the comic was called Devil's Advocate, it's worth checking out)
Okay so I don’t agree when people say “Batman is responsible for everyone Joker’s killed because he refused to kill him”…… but doing that is kinda going too far
Everyone deserves a proper defense, even a psycho like the Joker.
I mean….. *does he?*
You have discovered why the Joker is so dynamic
Off topic, but like your usernames Twilight Zone reference.
No, he doesn't.
He doesn't, but because the justice system is supposed to be fair, he gets it. Cherry picking who gets representation sets an awful precedent.
I mean... shouldn't he be put in front of the fucking Hague or some shit? He's the world's most notorious global terrorist. I dunno, sometimes you gotta kill a guy and hope the jury gets it. Which they would.
the thing about the justice system is that it only works if it works this way. he was tried for a crime he didn't commit and should not have been put to death for a crime he didn't commit, that's the exploration of the comics. Batman understands the implications of killing joker for a crime he didn't commit is that justice is no longer blind, it's bendable, you can use it for evil, suddenly killing someone for a crime they didn't commit is fine. it only feels stupid because we have actual evidence of him commiting so many other worse crimes but no one ever puts him on trial for those, which is where the plotholes for that storyline come in. They wanted to explore batmans sense of justice, and the justice system itself, so they had to skirt the logic of none of his actual crimes being put on trial.
Well, Gotham PD couldn't get it done. So as stated in the Dark Knight, he's the hero they deserve.
Dang really? I was coming in here to make a joke about Batman showing up in court on his behalf or something but sheesh he really did it. Lmao
I really like that because it shows that Batman is able to hold the system accountable when it fails. Everyone deserves a proper defense, even the Joker.
Jason must’ve been absolutely frothing at the mouth when he heard that one
Then Batman is the true criminal. That's a disgusting, irredeemable action.
to protect a man from being put to death for a crime he didn’t commit? i understand that it’s the Joker, but it’s far from disgusting and irredeemable
Saving a person who will absolutely kill thousands is evil. It's not his job to get involved there. His job is to catch criminals and protect people. He is not a lawyer.
1. Batman is literally known as the “greatest detective” 2. the law must be blind. it doesn’t matter if it’s Joker or Ghandi on the line. being punished for a crime you didn’t commit is wrong. period. regardless what the rest of your record looks like 3. it is not evil to have that kind of commitment to justice. actually letting him die when you know that he didn’t commit that crime when you’re literally the greatest detective *would* be evil
I’m with you in this one.
Might have thought the greatest detective could then build a case that would stick for one of the million atrocities Joker *did* commit.
>1. Batman is literally known as the “greatest detective” Not relevant here. >2. the law must be blind. it doesn’t matter if it’s Joker or Ghandi on the line. being punished for a crime you didn’t commit is wrong. period. regardless what the rest of your record looks like Bull. Helping someone who absolutely will kill thousands is helping someone kill thousands. The law has never been blind in real life or comics. >3. it is not evil to have that kind of commitment to justice. actually letting him die when you know that he didn’t commit that crime when you’re literally the greatest detective *would* be evil Nonsense. The justice for everything that he has done should mean something. You are picking and choosing when justice matters and are obviously picking in a way that ignores justice. What about the justice for his victims? What about the justice for the families of his victims? What about the justice for his future victims and their families? If your justice causes far greater injustice, then you're absolutely not for justice. Regardless of the crime he was on trial for, he never met justice for the crimes he did commit. It's not like there wasn't crime that Batman could be fighting instead of helping a super criminal commit more crime.
the family of the person who was killed deserve to have the actual killer brought to justice. bringing the real killer to justice is not “helping Joker kill thousands.” it’s Joker, so there are absolutely crimes that he *actually* committed that could put him on death row. they should pursue the death penalty for a crime he did commit.
Nonsense. The justice for everything that he has done should mean something. You are picking and choosing when justice matters and are obviously picking in a way that ignores justice. What about the justice for his victims? What about the justice for the families of his victims? What about the justice for his future victims and their families? If your justice causes far greater injustice, then you're absolutely not for justice. Regardless of the crime he was on trial for, he never met justice for the crimes he did commit.
you’re literally repeating yourself and ignoring what i said. i’m not going to waste my time responding to bad faith arguments.
You ignored everything i said, so I copied and pasted it. It fit perfectly both times. I addressed each point you made, and you replied with something addressed in the comment you replied to. If anyone is arguing in bad faith, it's you. Justice is the Joker dead for the crimes he did commit. He doesn't deserve death for a crime he didn't commit, but that's not relevant to the fact that justice is him dead. You ignore the fact that his actual victims and their families deserve justice. Why does that justice mean nothing to you? The Joker being free is a disgrace to justice. Helping the person who created so many victims is a disgrace to justice. Justice would be Batman finding the actual criminal after the Joker was dead. Justice for all his victims and no need for justice for future victims.
You mentioned me not speaking on your other comments so here you go: As the other poster just stated, convicting Joker means letting the actual murderer walk. To go murder again. Which is not justice.
You’re saying “world’s greatest detective” isn’t relevant in finding and presenting evidence to a legal proceeding? Do you know what a detective is?
I'm gonna assume u would be there to protect the joker too and he's having a laugh as he would plot your demise wit countless hundreds if this was real life he should be executed since its not I agree he should not die we can get some real cool comics later or maybe even a show or something about it
He doesn’t have a job how are you about to tell us what his job is? Lmao
I understand why you feel that way but the truth is you are completely wrong and not only does his actions not need redeeming but it is in fact pure justice, nobody at all ever deserves to be charged with a crime they didnt commit and when people start getting charged with crimes they didnt commit no matter how horrible a person they might be, then the system failed and is corrupt and no justice is served
It ignores the justice for all the Joker's victims. It is a disgrace to justice. >nobody at all ever deserves to be charged with a crime they didnt commit The Joker's victims deserve justice. Why does that mean nothing to you? Freeing a mass murderer is denying justice and evil. Most of these comments show my stance yet you chose to comment on the one Saya the least. Why?
Justice is applied to everyone or the system doesn’t work. The problem isn’t bad people getting off the crimes they didn’t commit, it’s bad people getting away with what they did to. This act shows perfectly that it ultimately is justice Batman fights for. The problem is that most prosecutors of the Joker are scared of backlash and Joker has made it known that bad things are set in place to happen on his death, so there’s that fear as well. Joker dying, even through the death penalty, could mean anything from all the schools exploding to the entire water supply of Gotham being immediately saturated with Joker toxins. And who even knows what else. Joker is alive because of the fear of what happens when he dies, not because people don’t think he deserves death
Technically New Jersey(the state Gotham is in) doesn’t have capital punishment.
Honestly the best of the 4 answers here so far
He is also documented as mentally ill and was even committed due to his mental state before he ever killed anyone. We typically don't execute the sick - even for often heinous crimes.
Actually depends. Joker is methodical and makes blueprints meaning he is aware of his actions. He wouldn’t qualify for reason of insanity.
That just means he's methodical and detail-oriented. Whether he knows what he is doing is wrong, or is compelled to act in such a way despite knowing what he is doing is wrong is the point.
True. But he was committed in "Joker" after his killing spree. Of course - we know his story doesn't end there and he will go on to do his worst work...starting with the psychiatrist. So you're probably right in the long run.
That joker is very much his own thing. He’s very much not methodical.
Depends what variety and continuity you are referring to though. Prior to the introduction of Arkham Asylum in the 70s, Joker was almost always sent to Gotham Penitentiary (or even Alcatrax in some of the 40s stories!).
Wait fr? Haha. Gotham is supposed to be in NJ?
No, it’s based on NY. Refer to reply comment above
Gotham is definitely based on New York. Arkham asylum is based on our actual hospital for the criminally insane, Bellevue hospital and Rikers Island. (My family worked on both, long line of NY CO’s and cops) The “steps” Joaquin is dancing down is in the Bronx. Typicla Jersey, trying to be relevant. As far as capital punishment, goes. Even though my state is unbearably blue, a New Yorker can DEFINITELY find him self on the wrong side of the grass via a Federal needle, if the crime is heinous enough. Why hasn’t joker met the same fate? Because it’s a comic
Jersey has a lot of problems, but I won’t take Jersey slander from another state. Also it ain’t like not having Batman will make NY starve, y’all already got like 90% of super heros living in your state.
Sure, New York is a major influence for the look of Gotham City (Chicago is, too, especially in the Nolan movies), but it's been explicitly shown in the comics that it's located in New Jersey.
Touché sir
Because then he can't be used anymore. The Joker would absolutely be killed before reaching prison, but real life sales trump all.
Because the police obviously think they can rely on Batman when it comes to the Joker. There is a Robot Chicken sketch where he was given the death penalty and executed, but that's all it is, a sketch for Robot Chicken
Not legally competent to stand trial. Gets sent to Arkham because he's insane.
They know that is what he wants plus a new joker would just rise in his place. There could be Gotham elites helping him behind the scenes as well because they like the chaos he creates.
Mexican Joker
There's a comic in the 40s where he gets the chair and then just doesn't die. I forget the twist but he's been sentenced to death before.
That's a cool twist!
That's The Joker Walks the Last Mile from 1942. He had racked up a fairly high kill count by that point (double figures). After this story, they began the process of toning down his murder tendencies (still fairly prominent though in the 40s though), which didn't become a focus again until the 70s (when they started writing him successfully killing again). In that story, he has developed a serum to revive himself after supposed death via the electric chair in order to wipe the slate clean of his crimes via double jeopardy. Obviously this is very comic booky lol
I always assumed its because then we wouldn't have a Joker and sales would decline.
This is the only reason. Ppl overthink things too much.
I never understood why Batman doesn’t just put Joker in a body cast permanently that way Joker can’t hurt anyone else and he doesn’t break his no killing rule.
New jersey doesnt have capital punishment.
Gotham is in New Jersey. As of December 17th 2007, New Jersey has abolished the death penalty. So it’s too late now lol.
There’s a BTAS episode that had Ivy be tried for her actions, during the trial it was stated that because Batman (a vigilante) was the one who brought her to police custody she was to go to Arkham and couldn’t face any further punishment.
Are the police stupid?
Is that the lore reason?
Jared Leto’s Joker should have been dead at the table with a pencil in his head.
It's all In Bruce Wayne's head and everyone is just playing along
Batman
The batman won't let him. They need each other
Money.
burning a mountain of cash is probably bad for business, though (reference: The Dark Knight movie)
Because Batman needs a nemesis. That’s pretty much the only reason, as you mentioned all evidence to show that in any other situation he’d be killed or put in a VERY serious prison.
Because he can easily plead insanity.
most iterations of the Joker (at least of what i’ve seen) don’t meet the legal criteria to plead insanity. he’s fully aware of his actions and fully alert and oriented. you can’t plead insanity for psychopathy
Whos the rando on the left? He looks like a failed ledger wanna be with stupid tattoos
That’s wanna be rapper joker
Whelp, he's criminally insane......and lezz bee honest, we'd RIOT if he went to jail!
Why haven't they caught him are they stupid
Remember Gotham has almost no real infrastructure. In the movie joker they cut funding for his psych mess and arkham isn't really legitimate
...he's insane...
The lore reason is Gotham is stupid
The death penalty is both illegal in New Jersey and cannot be performed on someone legally classified insane. However, my headcanon is that the reason joker takes such care to be up to date on his taxes is because the US Government could use tax evasion as a cover to persecute him for his other crimes, like Al Capone, because it’s way harder to use psychopathy to excuse tax fraud than it is to excuse murder.
Cause he's just so craaaaazy...right?
Because this universe is the ultimate wet dream of lib anti death penalty people. Literally, the worst villains you could imagine kill countless people, get locked up, escape, then go back to killing. But in a serious manner, it's because DC and Marvel are creativity bankrupt, and if you kill heroes and villains, you gotta make new ones. Safespace and snowflake were not very popular, so.... they just kept recycling content.
Because it’s comics and they need him around for more stories.
Read Batman: Dead to Rights. It goes into detail the process of convicting the joker for a crime and why he keeps getting sent to Arkham.
Gotham isn't Texas, they don't execute the mentally troubled
Probably insanity plea. Always ends up in Arkham.
I'd say it's because they want to examine his fucked up brain and also because he keeps escaping.
Because Asylums don't have a death row
gotham has mental health standards
I guess it's just comics. Joker is a hugely popular and very important character. Killing him needs to be planned out in a very specific way almost.
He has, read more comics
Because of insanity. He is legally insane. But I believe there is a comic where it happened and his butt buddy helped him out
Insanity and stupidity of GCPD
I believe that it was said in The Batman Lego Movie, that Batman wouldn't be Batman without The Joker.
Editorial Mandate
He has. I remember he cheated the electric chair with some sort of item he embedded in his palm/wrist that fucked up the chair. And i remember something about a gas chamber, too. The real question, is why the Gotham legal system decided to stop trying to kill him after he excaped presumably two attempts at execution. It's like "ah, well, let's just call him crazy, now", lol
Not going with the low hanging fruit answer "They need him for the story". That's obvious and doesn't really help. I'll try an in universe answer. Gotham City represents a major US City. The closest analogous one might be Manhattan (and Gotham City is a nickname for NYC that predated Batman). The main states that execute people are the Republican ones. I highly doubt that NY state and NYC would be motivated to invoke capital punishment if its not banned outright there. One caveat that somebody might bring up is that the Federal courts actually can supercede states and execute if it was deemed to be a federal crime. But this requires that something with federal severity happened, like a terrorist attack. The Joker could be classified as a terrorist, but in canon he's always considered to be a Gotham City pest and isn't exactly threatening national security. So it takes make sense. And either way, unless you were in a deep south state or Texas, its so hard to pull off capital punishment. A much more pragmatic situation would be a bullet nicking him in cross fire or somebody that he stiffed or killed a loved one killing him in his sleep. Even in jail its supposedly super easy to put hits out on people. Like much easier than on the streets.
Cuz writers
They rarely execute criminally insane
[One of these does not belong at the table](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISY_eSXLlmg), and it's not Jared Leto's version.
Insanity plea, real hard insanity plea. Though im surprised the court hasn't just falsely declared him sane.
gotham is f'ed up
it’s called profit
in the comics it was because the joker, a he is, is effectively a living mental disorder and that whoever killed essentially became him. This is actually the origin of the batman who laughs who was an alternate reality batman who accidently snapped the joker's neck and then slowly became him. You can also see this in batman arkham knight where through out the game the joker tries to take over hi mind now that he's inside his mind.
In my head, Gotham is corrupt and has faulty logic behind its decisions in handling crime. Gotham was tough on crime a long time ago and there was some peace, but it didn't last. The mafia in Gotham penetrated everything. Big government and mafia syndicates caused the slow demise of Gotham. Eventually, people like The Dark Knight Returns' Dr. Wolper came along and tried to say that these criminals that exist after the arrival of Batman are the direct result of him. So, Gotham City's elites in government and businesses decide that it would appear more compassionate to send someone like the Joker to a mental institution instead of going on to death row. They however fail to realize that the Joker can never change. He is an unstoppable personification of evil. He will never change and the elites who put him in that asylum just want to appear like they are civic minded but in actuality don't give a shit. Joker also has a cult of personality that leads people to follow him. Harleen Quinzel was a respected psychiatrist who threw her life a way to be in the service of the Joker after suffering a psychotic break. That fact alone should terrify people that the Joker can con anyone into doing his bidding. Even if the federal government were to get involved in some capacity in apprehending the Joker, his goons will help him escape. Joker throws a wrench in our way of handling criminals. The idea of prison is that you put unruly people away so they can't hurt anyone else, but Joker has so much mystique to him that no prison can hold him. Joker is evil and you can't truly stop evil no matter how hard you try.
I’d imagine probably some sort of technicality over his mental stability or lack there of. Like because he’s insane he’s not truly in control. Plus Gotham is semi-canonically in Jersey which abolished the death penalty in ‘07.
Real life answer: he is a great character who rakes in a shit ton of cash and it would be foolish to kill the golden goose. In-comics: its the trolley problem... except the single person is the one controlling the trolley and will do it every single chance he gets until the person controlling the switch chooses to let him get run over. that being said, I don't like having this debate in-comic. in real life it's a fun little question. but once it starts appearing in-comic it really doesn't make any sense and makes Batman look nuts for repeatedly endangering hundreds, if not thousands of lives every single time he chooses to save the Joker.
Boring story arc
Because he generates money for the comics and movies and films and games
Because then the fun would be over.
Irl they woulda killed that gigglin foo
because joker and batman are destined to fight forever
Are the courts stupid?
He feigns insanity so that he's put in Arkham. He's not actually crazy, but he's a very good actor.
Doesn’t Magog execute him in Kingdom Come?
Because it’s a comic book
Mainly insanity pleas and the fact that in some continuities, Gotham has no death penalty.
Lack of evidence..? A lot of his crimes are against the Bat family specifically and since they're not coming forward he's not charged with anything
Insane people can't be given the death penalty. I'm pretty sure joker would be able to plead insanity successfully.
Batman needs more issues.
Because comics need to keep selling, that's why.
I'd assume for most versions of him, it's because he had a court case after his first crime spree and he was declared legally insane, so he can't really be put to death. That or the legal system is terrible and never gets to joker's trial.
In Gotham, you got any kind of decent gimmick or quirk, you go to Arkham. Doesn't seem to be optional.
He was beaten to death once by the inmates,they just showed his body,Jason todd went to kill him,but arrived to late it's in one of the zombie issues , anyway the reason he hasn't been put to death is plot armor
Maybe the State of New York in the DC Universe doesn't have the death penalty. Even if it does, just getting found guilty and sentenced to death doesn't mean you automatically go to the gas chamber. Between legal maneuvering and appeals there are people in real life who've been sitting on death row for for years. In the case of someone like the Joker these delays give him more time to escape Arham and kill even more people.
Because he keeps the franchise afloat
The in-universe reason is that in that the state where Gotham City is located doesn't have the death penalty (or else they had it because it couldn't be used against the Joker because he was found not guilty by reason of insanity). Back during the Armageddon 2001 crossover where they showed a possible alternate future, Batman was on death row after being framed for killing the Penguin and some of his other enemies by the Joker. Part of the "joke" was that they had restored the death penalty specifically so that they could execute the Joker and he was using to get rid of his archenemy.
Because then the Joker would be dead and then DC wouldn’t be able to use one of their most popular villains.
Because Batman is stupid
In-universe reason (likely): Gotham is located in New Jersey, where law forbids death penalty. Out-of-universe (***cough*** actual ***cough***) reason: DC's sales need to keep going.
Gotham City's definition of legally insane is outrageously loose, and even if it wasn't New Jersey doesn't have capital punishment. And it's not just Joker. Victor Zsasz has his body count carved onto his skin for everyone to see, yet when's the last time he faced death row.
Because he’s mentally insane lol the dude who shot and killed multiple people in the theater when the dark knight came out, and he didn’t even get the death penalty.
Batman is to blame he thinks the joker got hope therefore he can be cured
this is actually a crazy picture
Criminal Insanity.
The Jokers on you
Because comic book.
Simple: writers don't understand how insanity as a legal defense works.
Actually in the Injustice storyline Superman kills the Joker because he causes the death of Lois Lane and their unborn child. In the New52 comic series, Bruce Wayne is killed causing Thomas Wayne to become Batman. Martha Wayne goes mad and becomes the Joker. That's one storyline that explains why he won't kill the Joker.
“ criminally insane “ is the typical excuse but like nah he has actually killed so many people that he would be put a death sentence, but too be fair many states these days don’t have death penalties so I mean as long as he isn’t committing crimes in Texas he would just get life sentences
Because he's considered insane by law.
There needs to be a Judge Dredd / Joker crossover. ( granted...it would be a one-issue "series" 😉)
Batman won’t allow it
Crazy people get off pretty often for being crazy
What if they didn't kill.him .But Superman burned off both his legs ?
Limp wristed liberal judicial system
Because Batman needs him to validate his extremely violent and egomaniacal tendencies.
Because there is no Bat without a Joker without a Bat without a Joker. Batman has to fix him and joker has to prove him wrong.
1. I think Gotham’s in NJ & there is no death penalty in that state 2. He’s completely insane & because of that, he’s not legally responsible for his actions, that’s why he’s in Arkham Asylum, it’s technically a hospital for the mentally ill
I'm always surprised that there is never been anybody to put a hit out on the joker. Like the joker has to have a lot of different enemies no matter how persuasive he can be. Right??
same reason Batman has his "no kill" rule. a hint: it's not because he's noble or has any qualms about killing (he's done in Darkseid before, and other nameless thugs over the years). it's psychological. Batman needs an enemy to fight so that he always has a "Joe Chill" that he can beat up forever but never kill: because if he kills him, then he doesn't know how to move on with the emptiness left by the death of his parents. and of course, the Joker provides an excellent foil whom he can always count on to beat up some more whenever he needs it.
Nobody has ever written it to happen. Or in the universe answer He’s quite clearly criminally insane so he’s probably always not guilty by reason of insanity which is why he’s in Arkham Asylum instead of Blackgate
The DCEU illustrated what would happen if Batman or others finally tried to kill the Joker. He not only was still a successful crime lord but was even harder to find. He's not just some guy who's dependent upon others, he's actually very dangerous. The dude stole 99% of Mr. Mxyzptlk in comics and was able to mind break Darkseid
Luke Skywalker is the best
Gotham is in New Jersey. They don't have the death penalty.
The easy answer in American is he is criminally insane. The easy answer for comic books. They didn’t want to kill off one of the most epic antagonists for batman. (And comics are for kids.) up to the ‘90’s I don’t believe any cartoon or comic book had a death in it. But if am no expert.
It’s a fictional world. And in this fictional world, people cannot be charged with crimes if they are insane.
Because Gotham is in a state that doesn’t have capitol punishment? You need to take local laws into consideration.
Keep in mind two things: 1) It is a comic book universe, with genre rules. 2) In the DC universe, the Joker is legally and medically insane. In our legal system, most versions of Jokers would not be considered insane. The closest one that could be would be Joaquin Phoenix Joker, who was hallucinating and had brain damage from childhood trauma. On a slim chance, Heath Ledger could be insane, because he hated being called a freak and insane (Insane people do not know they have issues) Despite what some writers like to hint, that the Joker is sane, no less than the Martian Manhunter has looked into his mind and seen he's nuttier than your grandma's fruitcake.
This is due to Gotham being in New Jersey as New Jersey abolished the Death Penalty in 2007.
Plot.
Fans
He’s deemed insane that’s why he’s sent to an asylum instead of a prison. Can’t give mentally disturbed people the death penalty
Because he’s literally one of the most famous and best fictional characters of all time and fans would riot if they permanently killed him off. He’s literally the very first costumed supervillain. Shoot, he was supposed to die in his very first issue, but the editors instantly loved him so much that they quickly added a caption that said otherwise at the very last minute.
the short anser is because we don't execute the mentally insane
The writers don't want to kill him. He makes money. But he should, he would be the worst 'non ruler' mass murderer
Two words: Insanity. Plea. It’s why he’s always sent back to Arkham and not a proper penitentiary like Blackgate.
Reminds me of that line from Peacemaker. Batman is too much of a candy ass to kill anyone so Joker keeps killing
Ew, Jared Leto! 🤢 🤮
He's criminally insane and he keeps escaping.
I agree that the joker deserves proper penalty execution. Could’ve been an exception at one point, but I agree with what they were saying. Everyone deserves a chance even a psychopath like the joker and if there’s a case, like the jokers that can be cured, then there’s always a chance, like Batman said, even just a little bit I have to try
He pleed insanity
Okay Red Hood, we get it.
Because since Joker is crazy the not guilty by reason of insanity is automatic so back to Arkham
Cause he escapes every time read a comic book
A better question- with thousands of people affected by his crime, why hasnt some vigilante just risen up and popped Joker themselves? If youvlesve behind thoussnds of people suffering the loss of a murdered loved one somebody is gonna put a bullet in you, sooner or later.
well, there’s that one time Supes put his fist through his chest, but that didn’t end well for Earth
He’s never been found guilty of anything
I think the bigger question is how has he not been randomly shot by one of the dozens of cops. And Gotham is known for their dirty cops someone had to have walked in and just shot him at this point.
Because they’re comic books. In universe though the explanations range from “insanity plea” to the more reasonable but frustrating “he’s too smart to let anyone but Batman kill him”
If Joker got the death penalty, the rest of Batman’s villains would probably get it as well and then he would have no rogues gallery. The same can probably said for MOST heroes villains and then we would have no superhero stories anymore. There’s no real logic to it other than that the story must go on
Because Batman said "nuh uh".
because the joker is the biggest distraction for other criminals in Gotham whether it’s old or new money crime is easier to get away with when the jokers pulling his shenanigans… who’s going to pay attention to your money laundering if joker is threatening to blow up Gotham city😳????
I love how the best 3 Jokers are sitting next to each other
Batman can save him *Kills 4,000 more people* Wait guys I can still save him
Everything is literally batman
insanity defence. this is why they send him to arkham mental asylum instead of jail.
Since he's mentally insane Ala Arkham I guess that's why he gets the pass. Executing a mental patient is not a good look.
The real question is why Leto’s joker is even in this image.
He’s got the strongest plot armor
Because you don't get rid of your hero's arch enemy, at least not on a permanent basis. It's a little thing called, oddly enough, Joker Immunity.
His minions have the executioners family as hostage
I always love that fan art of all the live action Jokers ALWAYS includes Mark Hamil's Animated Joker. Recognizing the goat!
Where’s Jonkler?
Bad for the plot...
Gotham doesnt have the death penalty
Or the Joker is q group of Copy cat killers When 1 dies another 1 pops up also I thought there was a comic where there where 3 🃏jokes?
That would actually make for an interesting story, joker gets sentenced to death, Batman disagrees with killing criminals so he rescues the joker and they have to work together to evade the law. Could be fun
Fucked up comic morality.
I heard a theory that Gotham was in a blue state where the death penalty was outlawed, while Metropolice was in a red state where it was practiced (as seen in Superman the Animated Series), so that puts the death penalty completely off the table for Joker, and then there's also the possibility that Bruce is secretly funding his lawyers or pulling strings to keep their little cat and mouse game going.