I am under the impression that Batman wouldn't necessarily be against a lawful execution, but that he doesn't support vigilante murder. Is this true?

I think Batman would be against the death penalty.

of course. look at how many innocent people he lets get killed because he cant kill a clown.

He could also just believe in that it is up to the curt system to judge and not him.

Batman seems to be fairly politically liberal all around, so probably yeah.

Well that question is something totally different from the topic name. Batman has a no killing rule like most superheroes do.

@tupiaz: Yes he doesn't kill. But this doesn't mean he believes that all killing is unjustified. He doesn't believe that one man should decide.

Pretty much. I'm sure Batman wouldn't be against the people of Gotham giving Joker the death sentence. He doesn't kill because he would cross the line and it's not up to him. It's not up to any one person, especially a vigilante. However, a death penalty is different. I think he would be okay with it

He's against killing from vigilantes like himself and maniacs like the Joker. I don't think he'd have a problem with Gotham giving him the death sentence and executing him because Batman doesn't think Joker deserves to live. If Batman kills him then he'd be a criminal as well. Batman doesn't have the jurisdiction or authority to kill anyone without it being a crime. That and he doesn't believe in killing.

Batman is a criminal. Being a vigilante is a crime and normally we wouldn't have it in our societies.

Which was I was saying earlier. But that Batman doesn't kill and his view on death penalty are two different subjects.

I think this

In the DCU, Vigilantes can testify in court with their secret identities concealed. So yeaaahhh no he's not a criminal.

Just because you're a vigilante doesn't mean you don't have your own set of rules or a conscience/morality. You can even be a straight up criminal and not go so far as to commit certain crimes (isn't it pretty universally accepted that child molesters/killers are the lowest of the low on the totem pole in the prison population?) Although he's technically a "criminal" because he's a vigilante, he's not doing it for vengeance or personal gain. Besides that, he's earned the respect of Gotham's city and it's police. They accept his help. This topic was alluded to heavily in The Long Halloween. If Batman killed bad guys, he's be no different than Two-Face, thus, Two-Face became labeled a villain. Also, I'm pretty sure I've read that Batman has stated that certain criminals do deserve to die (such as the Joker), he just won't take that part of the law into his own hands. As stated in "The Dark Knight" movie by Gordon: "I'll allow you to bend the law, but not break it", and Batman abides by that rule. I'll never understand why people blame Batman for all the criminals in Gotham. Gotham hands over the villains essentially shrink wrapped, and the court system fails to properly convict them of crimes or lets them out early on parole or makes it way too easy to escape Arkham/Blackgate. If anything, it's the mayors and the jurors of Gotham that are incompetent, not Batman himself.

On a side note: Nobody whines and complains that Spider-Man or Superman don't kill anybody. There's a reason why they are considered heros/good guys while people like the Punisher and Magneto are labeled anti-heros.

Wow what a long answer to a little post. Anyway I didn't say Batman did anything wrong morally I just said he was a criminal and that we wouldn't be happy if somebody took the law into their own hands a beat people up and tied them to a light pole. Anyway Bat do indeed do his criminal hunt for his own sake. He is haunted what happened with his parents never really let it go and projecting those feelings towards other criminals.

Batman is in favor of letting the courts do what the courts are gonna do. He's too busy being Batman to form an opinion on this pressing issue.

He would believe whatever the writer believes about the death penalty, since ultimately it's up to the given writer of any story to decide what Batman will or won't do.

I think he'd be against the death penalty. He understands that killing to punish murder doesn't make sense. That said, I don't think he'd try to prevent a lawful execution unless he had reason to believe that the defendant was innocent. Like, I wouldn't see him breaking Joker out of prison to get him off death row (although that'd make for an interesting story).

Really? I've think an argument could be made for him as a sort of "neo-con", especially the Nolanverse version. He's a rich, white corporatist who has to use his personal resources and cunning to save the world because the government is irredeemably corrupt. He uses intimidation to keep criminals in line and he's not above breaking laws—especially privacy laws—to get his way because he sees it as necessary. And he's developed a military-grade arsenal to be used in a civilian populace yet the people love him for it. The cellphone contraption in the second Nolan film, for example, was criticized as a defense of the Bush wiretapping laws. And in the third film we get the poor misguided Selina Kyle who had to learn the hard way that her Occupy-esque philosophies would lead to the downfall of society and little kids being almost killed over an apple. Granted, we get more varied portrayals in the comics, but I think the makings of a "Jack Bauer"-style conservative hero is there.

I don't think he's against the death penalty per se, I think he just believes that HE and to an extent, other vigilantes and superheroes don't have the right or the authority to play judge, jury and executioner to the criminals they catch, it is up to the courts to decide their fate.

I would assume not...Batman seems to prefer letting criminals rot in jail for life than to be executed.

I'm gonna say no. He wants justice and ridding gotham of criminals. That's why he leaves them tied up for the police to deal with. If its decided that they deserve death, then he's probably okay with that. Also he lets Alfred use a gun sometimes since he's old, so he is lenient in some cases