Discussion: Should Rape be a Capital Crime?

[lapislzi]

20. There is a lot of nuance to be explored in this thread.

I hope the discussion remains civil and on-topic.

I have been anti-DP for my entire life. I think state-sponsored murder is barbaric and not worthy of a civilized society. I do not care for the exaltation of punishment over justice. It doesn't ennoble us as a society.

That being said, a handful of high-profile RAPE cases (now one is a rape/murder case) have caused me to rethink (not reverse) that position.

People on DU have oft heard me say "I'm not in the judging business." Well, sometimes we are. And this is a speculative discussion, after all.

The accused in the rape/murder of the medical student in Delhi late last year themselves try humanity in the most challenging way. There is no place in my human psyche for such barbarity, no compassion, and no scrap of mercy can I summon for these men. None.

Likewise the Ohio man who imprisoned and enslaved three young women for a decade. (There is, I think, little doubt of his guilt.) There is not even a fitting penalty for that on the law books--because it's so heinous. It's so heinous it can barely be conceived by rational humans.

What do you, as a society, DO with such individuals? What would justice look like? Is that even a question?

My own, admittedly small and imperfect, mind shuts down when confronted by such issues. Seeing such people alive is an affront to my own humanity.

Is the fault with me, that I lack sufficient compassion? Or are some crimes so beyond the pale that they stain the collective soul to the point that the people who committed them must be removed from the planet?

I don't know the answer. But I (along with Ms. Briggs) are taking callers.

Disclaimer: I'm an atheist. I use the word "soul" in a very loose sense, a kind of zeitgeist.