Is there a superhero series that gives a good reason on why villains are imprisoned and not executed?

I think everyone has heard of " Why don’t they just execute Joker? " meme which applies to many Marvel and DC villains that are obviously too dangerous to let live but the heroes can't break the ' no kill ' rule.

Is there a deconstructed superhero book that gives a pragmatic reason on why execution is an absolute last resort and why we have this revolving door jail system?

Off the top of my head I can think of a superpower system where powers are immediately transferred upon death to a random person, making it more practical to keep them locked up then immediately let lose another super in a random place. So while not ideal, the revolving door jail system is statistically better in the long run.