Should rapists who rape a child be put to death?

[gnome]

I want to address, as a side point, the ones here that speak up for torturing the perpetrators. As an angry revenge fantasy, well, whatever makes you feel better. Often enough it seems the perp deserves it. But there's something to discuss if some of you think that such a policy can be put into place seriously.

 

[DanishDynamite]

I want to address, as a side point, the ones here that speak up for torturing the perpetrators. As an angry revenge fantasy, well, whatever makes you feel better. Often enough it seems the perp deserves it. But there's something to discuss if some of you think that such a policy can be put into place seriously.

Any policy at all can always be put into place, if enough people get behind it.

So discuss. Seriously.

 

[quixotecoyote]

I agree mostly with what you say though i'd never endorse a system of brutal prison rape and torture even if it did decrease the chances of re offence. I'd rather keep them locked up and protect society.

I liked your post, but for the record, I was criticizing the status quo, not making a suggestion.

 

[gnome]

Any policy at all can always be put into place, if enough people get behind it.

So discuss. Seriously.

Can/Should are different things, obviously.

An official policy of torture of any kind generates serious problems above and beyond the question of whether the perpetrator deserves it. For some that seems to be the only thing they care about.

 

[gumboot]

I am opposed to the death penalty. I also believe that incarceration is primarily for the purpose of protecting society, not for the purpose of punishing criminals.

 

[Smackety]

Life imprisonment is cruel, but how can we ever be totally sure someone will not re-offend? Killing prisoners might work, but what would that do to our society?
There are no good solutions after the fact. We need to focus on prevention. Do perfectly normal people just get up one day and decide to rape some kid? There must be some warning signs that friends and family could be educated about.

 

[bigred]

Rape to me is too much of a he said/she said accusation to warrant something as hefty as the death penalty. Just Claims with no evidence whatsoever get a lot of attention.

It seems to me that the OP intended "what if someone who rapes a child" not "is accused of raping a child" ie there is exceedingly little if any doubt of their guilt.

I also think it would assume you're not dead-set against the death penalty in general, but then there's that thing about assuming (ie if you are then the crime is moot).....

 

[CFLarsen]

I can't understand why people say the death penalty isn't a punishment. It might not be corrective or conducive to rehabilitation, but taking away the rest of someone's life damned sure is a punishment!

How so? You're dead. You don't feel anything. You don't know that you're dead.

 

[Reeco]

Any form of punishment should:

1) Prevent the offender from committing the crime again.
2) Cost the taxpayer as little as possible.

And that's all it should do.

 

[Ian Osborne]

How so? You're dead. You don't feel anything. You don't know that you're dead.

So you'd have no objections to being dead? Judging by the lengthy appeals prisoners on death row go through, few people sentenced to death seem to share your view.

The defining characteristic of punishment is retribution, not rehabilitation. That's not to say rehabilitation is a bad thing - far from it. Merely that the death sentence is very much a punishment, even if (in automotive terms) it's a write-off rather than a repair.

 

[richardm]

I believe if the perp was facing the death penalty they would be more likely to kill the kid after the crime.

Why do you think this? Do you think that the rapist would reckon "Well, I'm going to get the chair anyway, I might as well see what murder feels like"?

 

[CFLarsen]

So you'd have no objections to being dead? Judging by the lengthy appeals prisoners on death row go through, few people sentenced to death seem to share your view.

Those are two different things: The knowledge of impending death, and actually being dead. The former, you are aware of, but not the latter.

What you are arguing is that people are being punished after the moment of their deaths. How is that different from arguing that you are conscious after death?

The defining characteristic of punishment is retribution, not rehabilitation. That's not to say rehabilitation is a bad thing - far from it. Merely that the death sentence is very much a punishment, even if (in automotive terms) it's a write-off rather than a repair.

I think that's what you are really arguing: That the death sentence in itself is very much a punishment. But not what happens after death.

Isn't that so?

 

[Georg]

Why do you think this? Do you think that the rapist would reckon "Well, I'm going to get the chair anyway, I might as well see what murder feels like"?

Maybe because a living child can identify a rapist easier than a dead one?

 

[Ian Osborne]

You're playing with words rather than dealing with issues. Ask yourself, 'is it better to be alive than to be dead?'. If you think it is, then why can't you see that death is a punishment?

 

[Cainkane1]

There have been cases of serial killers who.........

Why do you think this? Do you think that the rapist would reckon "Well, I'm going to get the chair anyway, I might as well see what murder feels like"?

There have been cases where serial killers only murder in states where there is no death penalty. Maybe I'm wrong but anything that helps a victim especially a child to survive an assault is worth it.

 

[CFLarsen]

You're playing with words rather than dealing with issues. Ask yourself, 'is it better to be alive than to be dead?'. If you think it is, then why can't you see that death is a punishment?

I am not playing with words. The issue here is, can a dead person be punished? That's what you are arguing.

How is that different from arguing that you are conscious after death?

 

[Ian Osborne]

The issue here is, can a dead person be punished? That's what you are arguing.

No, I'm arguing death can be a punishment.

How is that different from arguing that you are conscious after death?

Who argued that?

 

[Rasmus]

You're playing with words rather than dealing with issues. Ask yourself, 'is it better to be alive than to be dead?'. If you think it is, then why can't you see that death is a punishment?

I don't think "being dead" is either good or bad. When I die, I will cease exist forever. It will not even make sense anymore to refer to "me".

I might as well ask myself if I am "better off" now that I have been born as opposed to earlier, when I wasn't. But it still doesn't make sense.

I was not here since the beginning of time, and when I die I will no longer be until the end of all eternity. If you kill me for something I did, it will not change the nature of my being dead.

(Of course, I do care about it. I enjoy being alive and want to be alive for a good while longer. Killing me would take that away from me. My death could be painful and that wouldn't be any fun at all, either. But I think those are answers do a different question.

 

[Ian Osborne]

(Of course, I do care about it. I enjoy being alive and want to be alive for a good while longer. Killing me would take that away from me. My death could be painful and that wouldn't be any fun at all, either. But I think those are answers do a different question.

Those are excellent answers to the actual question, which is about whether death is a punishment.

 

[CFLarsen]

Those are excellent answers to the actual question, which is about whether death is a punishment.

Ahhh....now we are getting closer. I think.

Are you saying that the punishment is not being dead as such, but that you are going to die and how you actually die?

You get sentenced to death: Punishment.

Your actual death: Punishment.

After you are dead: Not punishment.

Is that what you are getting at?