WHY ISNT THE JOKER EXECUTED?

simple question why is he always sent to arkham asylum instead of going to the electric chair for all his crimes

Or at the very least sent to the phantom zone....

Plot.

Meta Reason: Because he sells

In Universe Reason: Because Gotham's law system is run by idiots.

Cause its against Batmans morals.

Because there will be no more Joker stores.

Because he is insane so he goes to the insane asylum (arkham asylum)

No, it's not up to Batman whether Joker get's electrocuted or not. The state decides that he's to crazy to kill. But if he got the chair, Batman would not stop it.

Seriously, if I was Batman I'd kill him without a second thought. He killed one of the Robins for Bat's sake!

@flashdamn:

Gotham is corrupt, and the laws always change and cops don't care half the time

He killed Robin and we got Red Hood. I call that a win.

@awesam: At the very least Joker needs to be sent down to Guantanamo Bay, there Red Hood can waterboard him.

Batman could easily prove that the Joker isn't crazy and send him to an ordinary prison to get electrocuted but he doesn't so its over-ally his decision. Bruce is too kind.

Its because Joker isn't actually real, nor has he ever been. The Joker is a figment of Batman's imagination, a coping mechanism he developed to give his life purpose and structure. Arkham Asylum isn't real either, its just a term Batman's subconscious refers to itself as. A place the Joker can go when Batman starts to realize that he might not be real and so needs a psychological time out before reinventing a new Joker.

So you can't kill what isn't real. Well… unless Batman gets a great psychologist.

@_goliath_: Joker would turn that place upside down.

Because DC would lose money.

So who killed Jason then? Was it Bruce dressed up as Joker all along?

Agreed.

Maybe the state doesn't have the death penalty

@flashdamn: Legally, I don't think many places execute people who are criminally insane. They'd probably make an exception for the joker, but that's generally why he isn't executed in the books (as far as in universe reasoning).

The actual reason is mostly due to sales. He has also died several times, however, He's actually been killed in superman centric stories or directly by supes more than batman (The Kingdom Come backstory, Injustice)

Except Joker wouldn't fit the definition of criminal insanity (the only "real" insanity. As the word isn't used in actual psychological circles). He knows what is wrong/illegal - it just excites him & he wants the chaos (/doesn't think those should be the morals (etc) of our society, but he still knows that they currently are).

The only legitimate in-universe reason would be the corrupt structure of Gotham, that Arkham get such pull in who they(/he) want to be committed & out of the prison system.

The comic-prison(/asylum) system needs a lot of work, haha. I mean, there are "criminal geniuses" (or highly-connected bosses) in prison in real life & they're not breaking out all the time. You'd think with all the advanced technology they have in comics they'd be able to hold a few of these guys :p.

This is literally the only reason. The guy has killed thousands, I don't care how crazy you are (though he is pretty mentally sound to me), that would get you the Death Penalty.

The same reason no one else is.

I don't get why people specifically single out Batman for this stuff.

Because I'm not in charge!

Excellent point. Take it in people!!

He can't plead the insanity card because he's fully conscious of his actions and loves being evil. Hell he even admits that seeing people die brings laughter.

Answer: Gotham Justice System fails at life.

Are you saying that Bruce paralyzed Babara?

Okay, let's take it out of Batman's hands. You're asking why hasn't the state decided to have him executed? For starters, pretty sure they'd have to do a psych eval to determine if he's fit for court. If so, then it's up to a jury to determine if he's guilty.

Imagine you're in either of those places: Either the psychologist sent to determine whether or not he's crazy, or on the jury who has to say whether or not he's guilty.

Can ANYONE here say they wouldn't give a response that would take him off death row? Can ANYONE HERE say that, in full knowledge of his escape record and reputation, that when placed in a room with the Joker, they'd have the courage to say, "Yeah, he's guilty." or "No, he's not crazy, take him to court." Can anyone here honestly say they're braver than the jury's/psychologist's that have tried him in the past? Brave enough to look the Joker in the eye and sentence him to death?

Because ultimately, Batman is a horrible crimefighter. Make The Joker part of Punisher's rogues gallery & see how long he lives.

@jonsmith: If we're applying some real-world "justice system mechanics" to this, I would say the constant escapes are unrealistic too (for any comic villain). (Like I said earlier, there are "criminal geniuses" who are securely locked away in US prisons, and if a witness is important enough, they'll get protected & the testimony will be carried out). If we're getting realistic, no non-powered person would realistically be capable of pulling off all the evil-acts Joker has (ie: the civilian good-guys aren't THAT incompetent).

Well, we don't know how the justice system in the DC universe works exactly, so all we can do is use our own reference, meaning our world's justice system, which given what we DO know about their system, should be close enough for a handle. So don't get realistic, so much as admit that this aspect should be fairly similar to our own reality's version.

@jonsmith: Well, not so much the justice system, but just the "competence" of prisons. We all know the real reason the villains escape as often as they do because it's "good for business". There's no non-powered person who would escape as often as comic-characters do ( - Joker is practically super-powered when it comes to pulling off some things). Comic prisons are comically incompetent (if only b/c the story calls for it). Their technology (even that of Arkham, as detailed in N52 Batman) is beyond that of our real world yet they fail to control even non-powered people.

Okay...agree to disagree a bit. To me that's selectively being realistic (without any rhyme or reason). If we can say "we all know the reason Joker goes to arkham instead is because the story needs it, but if we "get real" we know he wouldn't be found insane & eventually he'd get executed", I think we can also say "realistically he wouldn't escape nearly as much."

It's all made up! Everything is a lie!

Because Gotham isn't in Texas.

Batman constantly fudges the court documents so he can play with his favorite friend.

joker is legally insane so cant be executed until cured

Because Joker knows he is insane that's why they can't execute him or Gotham's cops eat doughnuts all day and forget about him.

Just so it appears more often (so people can notice it, as it appears to have gone unnoticed) - if, by power of the original question, we're allowed to apply realism (ie: even when we know the answer is "He's popular & the story requires him to not die"):

Joker is not legally insane. He knows the difference between right & wrong (& illusion vs reality), he just chooses to act as he does because he gains pleasure from it. That is the result of some mental defect, but he is still aware of what's going on & aware that his actions are illegal & against normal societal norms/morals.

@awesam: Sorry AcidSkull, but THAT was the best answer EVER.

Devil's Advocate

The Joker was executed. You could make so that because the Joker has been executed he can be it again. It would be weird but for a comic quite normal.

State laws?

PIS

Plot since for some reason not even the spectre has paid him a personal visit.

Because comics never end. The continuity just grows until a reboot.

Batman saves him.

@primebonnick The Spectre has tried to judge the Joker but can't because deep inside his subconscious he's still has some good in him.