Most appropriate punishment poll

[CFLDem]

Which is the most appropriate punishment for a murdering child rapist?

10 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Capital Punishment
	2 (20%)
	Life imprisonment with no parole
	8 (80%)
	Life imprisonment with chance of parole
	0 (0%)
	Less than life imprisonment with parole
	0 (0%)
	Less than life imprisonment with therapy
	0 (0%)
	Life imprisonment in a mental institution
	0 (0%)
	Life imprisonment with chemical castration
	0 (0%)
	Less than life imprisonment with chemical castration
	0 (0%)
	No imprisonment/house arrest
	0 (0%)
	Forced to listen to Justin Bieber 24/7/365
	0 (0%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[el_bryanto]

1. I voted for capital punishment because the way the thread is set up we know he or she is

a murdering child rapist, and I would have no trouble executing him or her. But in the real world we don't know for sure, which is why in general I'm not keen on capital punishment.

Bryant

[GeorgeGist]

2. Castration

[nomorenomore08]

3. Still opposed to capital punishment, because of the many problems associated with it.

Higher cost, racial/class biases inherent in the legal system, likelihood of executing innocent people, sending the message that killing people solves problems, etc.

That said, I am completely disgusted by rape/abuse of prisoners in general, yet I could not give one solitary fuck what happens to a child-murdering sexual predator once behind bars.

[LiberalEsto]

4. My biggest concern is that these murderers keep getting turned loose

and committing new crimes.

I cannot fathom why murderers who are sentenced to life imprisonment are given parole. But it seems to happen over and over again.

If there were a guarantee that life imprisonment MEANT life imprisonment, PERIOD, I would choose that option.

I hate the death penalty, and would love to see it completely abolished, but ONLY if it were guaranteed that vicious murderers sentenced to life are NEVER released.

[hrmjustin]

5. The death penalty is wrong so I say life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

[Cyrano]

6. I'm against capital punishment, but

having said that, I might support capital punishment only for those who favor it and commit a capital crime.

[intaglio]

7. Sorry, but all trials carry the possibility of error

Even with DNA evidence

Williamson and Fritz, 1983

Robert Gonzales 2005 (and there was DNA evidence available at the time)

Paul House 1985, convicted because the victim's blood was allegedly found on his jeans, it is likely that somehow those jeans were contaminated on the way to the lab.

[canoeist52]

8. Life imprisonment wothout parole...and...

study the hell out of them so we don't create any more of them.

[CFLDem]

9. I personally prefer

Life imprisonment with hard labor.

[Prophet 451]

10. I was stuck between 1 and 2

I only support capital punishment in cases where we have absolute proof of guilt (which isn't an impossible demand any more). Unless we have absolute proof, LWOP.

[backscatter712]

11. The policy-correct answer is life without parole...

Though the sadistic part of me suggests using the Pear of Anguish...

[aikoaiko]

12. caught in the act certain = DP.

[Nine]

13. Wrong question. There are many bad guys who deserve harsh punishment.

Ariel Castro, for example. There are also many people who consider a life sentence to be even harsher than a death sentence. At least one of Castro's victims felt cheated that he took the easy way out by committing suicide. I would never argue against the existence of crimes so heinous that they merit death. In that sense I don't have an absolute moral objection to the death penalty.

But I still think our society is better off without a death penalty. You need only consider how often we see headlines about convicts proven innocent years or decades after their conviction to know that our judicial system is far from flawless. A life sentence instead of a death sentence at least allows for the possibility of correcting these mistakes. It also allows, as mentioned upthread, for the possibility of studying these criminals and maybe learning how to prevent future criminals.

Besides that, my gut instinct is that the death penalty doesn't serve as much more of a deterrent than a life sentence. And eliminating the death sentence spares crime victims (as well as judicial authorities, doctors, state employees, etc.) the moral quandary of having something to do with another person's death as well as the trauma of having to witness it. Why put ourselves through that?

[bowens43]

14. the state should NEVER have the authority to kill a human being.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

15. No DP.

I don't believe the government has the right to take a life unless it's in the act of protecting other citizens from harm.