Nobody commented on this guys question so here is another.

What if you're fishing a 5 fish tournament and you have 3 in the box, you catch your fourth, it's decent sized, bleeding like heck but still very alive, you decide to make a judgement call and toss him back for fear that it may die in your live well later costing you a dead fish. Acceptable?

I wish I could remember which Bassmasters tournament I watched online where I saw a pro catch a fish and immediately throw it back b/c he stuck it in the tongue. Makes me think that is totally legal.

I remember seeing that too, I think it was Zaldain who did it.

Acceptable in my opinion.

I've seen Ike release one of his larger fish (at the time) that he was afraid would die and he wouldn't be able to cull later.

It is 100% acceptable.

Once a fish dies in my livewell, its my obligation to weigh that fish and accept the penalty.

Agreed

.....afraid he will die & WILL DIE are 2 different things .....
I say release the fish while it is still alive and give it a fighting chance to swim off and recover ...... if it doesn't then it just becomes part of nature's food chain ..... turtle food

If a tournament rule states no culling of dead fish, then you are stuck with it for weigh-in. That fish can not be culled in anyway shape or form once it dies. No explanation or argument would be accepted by me if I'm the TD.
How you handle that situation, prior to the fish dying in your live well is your decision. If it isn't dead, then it can be culled, but one must be careful to understand the moral as well as sportsmanship aspects of the rules too.