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Death Penalty for Rape, or something else?
- Thread starter Phil25
- Start date
omnifarious
Acolyte of Revelation
I'm against capital punishment, but I'm also against luxury prisons. Make them work in a prison mine for the rest of their lives.
Being a rather hard core pro-lifer I cannot condone unnecessary killing. If there is another option we should take it.
I don't have any sympathy though. While I realise some heinous crimes are acts of desperation, rape isn't. So I'm ok with permanent incarceration under unpleasant circumstances. You can't usually have a clue if someone has been rehabilitated enough to be worth the risk to the rest of us.
Tom
I don't have a problem with putting rapists to death, especially for child rape. 
You really believe that rape is worse than murder?
Anyway, some rapists deserve to die. But having seen our justice system up
close & personal, I don't trust it to make reliable convictions. We should have
the ability to reverse a sentence when exculpating evidence comes to light.
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psychoslice
Veteran Member
I was druged and raped as a young man, I certanily wasn't happy about it, but also I wouldn't want them to die for what they did to me, I just could not lower myself to do that.
I think that the death penalty can be appropriate for some crimes, although it is more of a removal tool than a punishment. But, given our terrible track record of sending innocent people to prison (including to be put to death), I think that it should be used only in rare cases where there is absolutely no doubt as to guilt.
And, given that those instances occur so very infrequently, I'm good with a moratorium on the death penalty for the time being and possibly indefinitely.
Phil25
Active Member
Murder is pretty horrible. But if you are dead, then thats the end of it. You dont have to endure anything, unless you believe in heaven and hell. But most rape victims have to face a trauma for a long time. And that trauma is worse than the physical part, I believe.
omnifarious
Acolyte of Revelation
I'd rather be raped than killed. Rape isn't that big of a deal for me.
Phil25
Active Member
Well thats a good question. What if the accused was innocent?
The only answer I can give is to make sure that the accused was guilty of the crime by whatever means you have got, before giving him the death sentence. But Yeah even it can result in some innocent person being given death sentence. And again thats a horrible thing.
You'll never create an infallible justice system, one that does not convict innocent people from time to time. So, if you want to impose the death penalty for rape (or any other crime) then you must accept that now and then some innocent person will be murdered by the state. To me, that's unacceptable.
Phil25
Active Member
Well as a Pro-Life supporter, I would say I am about 55% in support for Capital Punishment and 45% opposed to it. And I do, kind of believe that only God has the right to give or take life. So, your point does make sense to me. But the thought that a child rapist/rapist, who feels no guilt for his crimes, gets to live a happy life*, that thought is just even more horrible.
*I am not exactly sure what I mean by happy life, but just take it to mean a
no worries life.
If I understand correctly, life in prison for child rapists is quite ugly.
But that is not really my point. I don't need a religion to show me that people killing others consistently leads to the degradation of the human situation. No matter what the justification, it never holds up to the wash. Over the course of decades I've come to the conclusion that there really isn't a justification that will. So now I am a pro-lifer.
Tom
Drolefille
PolyPanGeekGirl
I'm opposed to the death penalty.
Poisonshady313
Well-Known Member
Tim Cole was accused of rape. Sentenced to 25 years. Died in prison after 14 years. From an asthma attack. He was exonerated around the time when his 25 year sentence would have been completed.
It's possible that he not been in prison, his condition could have been adequately cared for, and he might still be alive today.
Wrongly incarcerating people is a problem that is still present and still deadly even when capital punishment isn't a consideration.
Bad things happen to good people. It's terrible, and shouldn't be tolerated. Which is why people should fight for stricter standards for the legal system, and hold irresponsible people accountable when their actions wrongfully destroy someone's life.
But we still allow prisons to run, despite the fact that innocent people can die so many different ways during the course of even the shortest of sentences. Their death is no more reversible than the death of someone wrongly executed.
By getting rid of the death penalty, you don't eliminate, or even reduce the risk of wrongly convicted people dying in the custody of the state. All you do is spare murderers from the capital punishment for their capital crime.
Poisonshady313
Well-Known Member
As someone who supports the death penalty, I don't agree with sentencing rapists to death. Start executing rapists, and all of a sudden future rapists leave less rape victims alive
It's not immoral to support the death penalty, at least in principle, as a Christian. I support the death penalty but the system is surely imperfect.
I know this is a Catholic site, but I think you might be interested in this article anyway: Can You Be Pro-Life While Supporting the Death Penalty? - Catholic Stand : Catholic Stand