Aileen Wuornos executed....

[KRSESQ]

She was "euthanized" with a lot more dignity and compassion than she showed any of her victims.

We do it to sick (AND healthy) dogs and cats. Why not do it to homicidally insane humans? A more tender mercy than letting them rot in a cage for the rest of their lives.

Kevin

[efty]

OK, I'll bite What if someone killed your Dad? Would you still feel the same way? These were all men, which I'm fairly sure at least one was a father. What if it was your father?

sure your opinion will very likely be different when you're personally involved with the victim... but, should the punishment from the law reflect the seek for revenge from the relatives of the victim? Or should it be a conclusion about what's best for society / person accused when found guilty of the accused facts?

You partly answered Dave's question. Probably I would want to kill her with my own hands. I am no saint, and that's why a non-biased (jury) verdict is required and laws are made and enforced. With the same reasoning I would beat the crap out of someone that smashed my vehicle. Maybe it is not his fault, but that is the way I feel so why not have beating the crap out punishments? Or to the same extent why not have dismemberment for thieves?
I may be stretching it too far here, however I do think that the punishment imposed is a reflection of the society. In the sense that if the society accepts this sort of thing then it can be carried out by the jury/judge who are constituents of that society. And since I am on topic what is the view on the death penalty by the American public? Was there a national survey done and is there a relationship between pro and against percentages and the State.

I find it particularly interesting that abortion is seen by many as a crime while the death penalty is not.

[efty]

Why not do it to homicidally insane humans? A more tender mercy than letting them rot in a cage for the rest of their lives.

What about the non homicidally insane? Like that woman who killed her children. She did something terrible, but she can still be a contributing member to society if treated. The problem here is that prisons are not reformative but rather punitive and thus whoever gets in, is not likely to change to the better.

[Dr Mordrid]

And to think they made a TV movie (Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story with Jean Smart in the title role) about this waste of skin

Dr. Mordrid

[KRSESQ]

""The problem here is that prisons are not reformative but rather punitive and thus whoever gets in, is not likely to change to the better.""

Solve this problem, come up with just such a prison system/philosophy that is truely and absolutely reformative, and you'll probably win every Nobel Prize for the next hundred years, to say nothing of going down in history above Gandhi, Jesus, King, Freud, and every other reformer who attempted to change human nature for the better and failed.

But no matter what you do, there will always be a core of deviates who are irredeemable, no matter what your religious/social leader of choice says. In those cases, which is more inhumane, quietly euthanizing them or keeping them in an eight-foot by eight-foot concrete-and-steel cage, trapped by their twisted, tortured minds, for the remainder of their natural lives?

Sometimes death is the more merciful option.

Kevin

[efty]

Yes there maybe cases that cannot be reformed. I am talking about the cases that can and instead they get out of the prison worse than before.

[KvHagedorn]

Frankly, the idea of wasting my tax dollars housing these scumbags is offensive to me. Just as spending it on lawyers who argue for the sake of arguing with no moral cause whatsoever, and drag the capital case out over years and years of appeals at a cost of over a million dollars to taxpayers. I remember seeing that movie for rent at Blockbuster YEARS ago.. I can't believe this bitch has been kept around this long before being executed. We spend more money on the dregs of society than we do on the decent hard-working people.

[KvHagedorn]

There is no way you are going to reform someone by putting them in prison and exposing them to every vile example of humankind. What are they going to learn except to become better criminals? Boot camps are a better option for young offenders, and any case no one should have to spend ten years or more in prison. At that point you have pretty much destroyed their lives anyhow..

[Joel]

We spend more in one year to house some of these scumbags than we spend on a child's 12 years of education but yet statistics show that the number one common thing among the majority of these scumbags is lack of education. Go figure.

Joel

[Dilitante1]

The problems with the justice system and it's loopholes are well known. You cant expect any TRUE rehabilitation while exposed to other criminals. And the arguement I raise is if they are so dangerous, why keep them alive as they are a danger to the others guarding them/other inmates?

Death IS the easy way out for them and the taxpayer.....I just wish the appeals process didnt take up 10+ years before we get the final verdict done.

The next headache is the 3 strikes program, as we'll be making lifers out of little offenders as well as the big ones. That will be a big bill to swallow as well.

[KvHagedorn]

And guess what? Those little offenders are the ones the cops just look for.. the "usual suspects." Even if someone in your family did something bad way back when, that makes you a sure bet to be a criminal in some people's book. IMHO, if you stole a sixpack when you were a teenager, you don't deserve to go to prison.. if you beat someone up in a fight, you don't deserve to do 10 years hard time. (This happened to someone I used to know, because the judge didn't like his "attitude") Then you see the cases where someone gets bounced out of prison right away after attempted murder or something like that. The justice system is screwed up because there is no decent society left to be the foundation for judgement.

[Technoid]

The lack of common sence is starting to get downright dangerous