Never was big on the death penalty...UNTIL NOW!

[if it comes from the whitehouse it must be true]

After hearing about Sarah Lunde, another child grabbed and murdered I have come to the conclusion the animals that do this should be put to death. Life in prison some say is worse, most convicts get these animals as soon as they enter the system, to me why take a chance? End their useless lives and not risk them getting out and doing it again.

[wakeme2008]

1. their life span would be much shorter with Life w/o Parole in the

general population... :evilgrin:

[magellan]

2. Is it true then

...that child molesters are kept segregated from the general population in prisons because not even a regular murder/rapist will tolerate them in their midst? If so, I :applause: your idea. Put 'em in with the general population. Let them see what it's like to be the prey.

[Kindigger]

4. Yes it's true,

even criminals have a hierarchy of depravity. "Baby rapers" are the bottom of the bottom feeders behind bars.

[wakeme2008]

6. Co-Mo is the prison term

for Child Molester, I picked that up on another forum...

[Pepperbelly]

25. actually ...

what they call them is "short eyes".

[Pepperbelly]

13. actually ... that is a myth ...

I worked for a major US prison system for almost 10 years in a variety of responsible positions. While I certainly didn't know everything that occurred within the walls, I do know that battery leaves injuries and that there was no higher of incidence of victimization of child molesters than those committed for other offenses.

It sounds like the way it ought to be but actually, it isn't how it really is. "Short eyes" may be mocked but they are not targeted any more than anyone else. Batteries in prison are almost always about business or love.

[H2O Man]

15. This may be

because the institutions are aware from previous experiences that certain groups are at higher risk, and have taken steps to insure safety. The truth is that if prisons allowed a specific sub-group of offenders to be tortured and killed by other inmates in a systematic way, there would be legal consequences. I think that you are right that the idea that these offenders have an increased risk in prison is not accurate.

I will say that in a county jail, where inmates are kept pre-trial and for sentences of under a year, sex offenders who target children will be at highest risk for getting attacked. Not killed, but simply get the hell beat out of them. My feeling is that it is because some of the younger inmates have heard that these offenders get savaged behind bars, and indeed think it may win them some favor with the staff. Of course, my experience was limited to working with a small (3) group of jails in the rural upstate NY.

[Pepperbelly]

24. Yep ...

And mostly what inmates do, regarding other inmates, is mind their own business. Which meant, of course, that finding witnesses to crimes committed within the prisons was almost impossible, in a real practical sense. "I didn't see nuttin'."

If a convict doesn't mind his own business, how can he expect others to mind their's when HE is up to something?

BTW, I served as Chief of Security for an 800 bed facility, was an Internal Affairs Investigator, Chief Investigator, and Administrator of Internal Affairs as well as the insitutional jobs when I first started (i.e, C.O. I, Unit Grievance Officer, etc.)

[H2O Man]

74. I think that

some states have problems with different "gangs," and related territorial issues.

I did groups in one jail, and saw individuals in three. As a rule, the only ones who have fights were young guys. The older guys who had been in a few times knew how to do time. (They just didn't seem to know how to keep it together outside!) Young guys, especially in the first few weeks when they are experiencing withdrawal from legal and illegal drugs, cause most of the problems.

[KitSileya]

83. I am against the death penalty,

but am sorely tempted when it comes to child molesters and other sexual predators. However, if you believe these criminals should be killed for their crime, I think you should have the guts to do it yourself, not farm it out to people already behind bars.

[bluestateguy]

3. I'm for the death penalty and due process

In states where the system has been shown to be flawed, executions must be stopped and reforms instituted, like Illinois, and Texas, where our system is an international disgrace.

Retarded people, mentally ill people and juveniles should not be executed.

I have no moral objection at all to the state killing a proven murderer. I have a much bigger problem with the state killing civilians in Iraq for a war based on false pretenses.

In fact, I'd like to make white collar corporate criminals eligible for the death penalty. The boys at Enron and World Com should be subject to the death penalty.

[mitchum]

70. I agree with you completely, bluestateguy

Complete agreement with EVERY point of your post

[ReadTomPaine]

5. Because the state should never have the power to kill its own citizens.

Too easy to abuse, and the state simply doesn't deserve this power over those it supposedly serves.

I know there are plenty of DP advocates here, but, with all due respect to your point of view, I disagree.

RTP

[American in Asia]

7. Me too....

And even if I could put aside my repulsion at the idea of the State killing its own citizens when such action is not necessary to protect the safety of its other citizens, my cynical side does not believe we will ever see a day when there are not mistakes made, corners cut, or racial prejudices influencing this process. One mistake is too many.

[rodeodance]

8. I agree, it is to easy to abuse. No, the risk to too huge to allow the DP

[brokensymmetry]

9. What, then, of the future victims?

The murderers appear to be convicted sex offenders that have graduated to more serious crimes. How many times do we hear of long sentences that somehow get reduced to a few years? We speak of "life without parole", and end up with five years.

Are there abuses and miscarriages of justice? Yes; there always have been, and always will be. But, frankly, we get to a point where we need to secure the safety of society. We're not doing a very good job of that.

[kcwayne]

11. The death penalty has repeatedly been shown to have no impact

on the prevention of crime. The threat of punishment is an ineffective deterrent effect on child molesters. This study in Canada showed a 42% rate of recidivism among child molesters 15-30 years after their release from prison. Candian study

If capital punishment sentences were handed out instead of prison, the recidivism would theoretically go to zero, but I challenge anyone to point to a study that would claim the population of child molesters would be prevented from acting on their compulsions.

It strikes me that if one wants the death penalty to act as a crime prevention tool, the execution should be made very, very gruesome and painful, and it should be televised on "The Death Channel" so that there is no ambiguity in the population as to how horrible and painful a death they will suffer when convicted of a crime. A menu of torture, mutilation, scalding, and psychological terror should be deployed, and then the remains displayed in public places for all to see.

The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Medieval Europeans, and many other cultures did that for thousands of years(although they used the town square instead of the Death Channel), and it obviously worked for them (not).

[H2O Man]

17. The death penalty

is only able to reduce the potential future crimes of the person executed. Most studies show that the likelihood of being caught and punished, rather than the idea of the most extreme potential punishment, tends to discourage crime.

[brokensymmetry]

45. Well, technically...

The Saudis, and certain other cultures that use Sharia law, do in fact amputate hands and do beheadings in public.

It's my understanding that one can drop a wallet on the street in Saudi Arabia, and it will not be disturbed by anyone.

Not that I'm suggesting instituting Sharia law here, but the results are suggestive, are they not?

[w4rma]

62. Yes. Because folks in Saudi Arabia also have a high chance to be *falsely*

accused of a crime. Picking up that wallet to even give it back to the owner could mean amputation.

[gollygee]

18. Life without parole is life without parole

it isn't reduced.

14 years can become 5 years. "life" is I think considered 20 years so that can be reduced too. But life without parole is not reduced.

[Charon]

31. Life Without Parole

All it takes is a change by the legislature to do away with "life without Parole." Then you are back to the old system. Life without Parole should not be considered set in stone.

[LostinVA]

21. Read my post down thread -- NEVER let them out of prison

I mean it. If it can be proven someone molested/raped a child, keep them in prison forever. I believe first-time rapists should serve at least 30 years REAL TIME. Minimum.

[WillowTree]

39. No!

Once convicted, and I mean the first time they're convicted, they should never breathe another lung full of free air again. Ever. Harm a child and get caught, your life should be over permanently. Period.

[w4rma]

63. Short sighted.

Lock them up for life with no parole. No chance of seeing the outside world. That way the folks who are falsely accused still have a chance to prove themselves innocent and with that information the true perpetrator can be caught.

[immoderate]

36. I'm in line with this.

If killing is wrong, the state should not kill people.

--IMM

[Heyo]

10. I agree....

I imagine it's tough to be a death penalty opponent when people rape and murder young children.

Heyo

[CTLawGuy]

28. yeah

must be tough to be against drawing and quartering and burning at the stake also :eyes:

If child molesters aren't burned alive, they are getting away with their crimes :eyes:

[OneTwentyoNine]

12. Not ONE rich person would EVER receive the death penalty in the US...

Thats the fatal flaw in the system,hell you can't hardly get them in a court room (Ken Lay) let alone sentence them to death.

[Balbus]

53. Isn't/Wasn't Scott Perterson rich? - eom

[mitchum]

71. As was Thomas Capano

[New Dealer]

56. Rich people hardly ever commit crimes punishable by death

Except the people in the Bush administration. But anyway, rich people hardly ever directly murder someone, and although what Kenneth Lay did was terrible, it isn't punishable by death.

Even still, I don't think you can use the fact that rich people are sentenced to death far less as an argument against the death penalty. Like you said, rich people often don't even get sent to the courtroom. Does that mean we should abolish all punishments until we find a way to ensure rich people are punished just as harshly just as often? The way for anyone to avoid this injustice is to simply not commit crimes.

[mandyky]

14. Our prisons must be as rehabilitative as punitive.

While I am torn on this issue, there are some people - serial killers, rapists and child nabber and killers might not be changeable.
I don't mind the death penalty if it is absolutely certain someone is guilty and the crime is so heinous and likely to be repeated that society would be better off.

[hector459]

16. Convoluted logic. The death penalty has not stopped one crime in this

country....even in TEXAS!!!

[NNN0LHI]

19. Yea, sure. I believe you were "never" big on the death penalty

No one has even been arrested in this case yet. What happens if the killer turns out to be a mentally retarded 15 year old kid? Kill him?

Don

[LostinVA]

20. I think Child Molesters & Serial Rapists should NEVER be released

Ever, ever, ever. They just can't be rehabilitated. I am very anti death penalty, no matter how my emotions wish these scum would be executed. How many times are the murderers of these children a registered sex offender? Or have a history of dome kind of child molestation. Why the HELL are they on the street, while some poor pot smoker is in for 20 years. F*cking crazy.

There was a convicted child rapist on "Oprah" on time who told her he would never be "cured," no matter how much therapy he went. Every day, as HE WALKED THE STREET, he had desires to do things to children he saw. He kept a rein on his behavior, but the thoughts and feelings were still there. That show was about 7-10 years ago. I wonder if that guy stayed clean.? I doubt it.

[oddtext]

22. There are always facts in even the most heinous crime

This was my response when i heard news of the texas dragging deaths. that crime was so disgusting, i felt so much heart-ache for James Byrd, Jr that my only response was "FRY 'EM!".

i then learn that the murderers learned a virulent brand of racism in texas "correctional" facilities, that the defendants had never felt this way about race until living in texas prison-hells, and upon discharge were left unsupervised to do this.

after learning this, i couldn't see how the state could have the right to kill the defendants who learned this crap in state facilities.

there are always facts in even the most heinous crime.

the DP allows man to "play" God. for that reason, it's dangerous and should be considered cruel and unusual under the 8th Amendment.

[hector459]

23. The death penalty for child molesters would kill at least 3 members of

everybody's family.

[depakid]

26. Visceral reactions

are usually the wrong ones. There aren't any easy answers to cases like this- although the media whores who jerk your feelings around to pad their coffers would like you to think so.

[VOX]

27. Google around for a list of countries that still have the death penalty...

You will find the U.S., and ... China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and many other countries that cannot come close to matching the U.S. in other ways.

Our country is supposed to be the "shining beacon of freedom" to the rest of the world. Our puppet-pResident claims that the U.S. is "spreading freedom" in the ME (hah). So why should the U.S. remain a third-world country when it comes to state-sanctioned killing of its own citizens?

From Amnesty International's Web site:
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-facts-eng
The Death Penalty in the USA
59 prisoners were executed in the USA in 2004, bringing the year-end total to 944 executed since the use of the death penalty was resumed in 1977.
Over 3,400 prisoners were under sentence of death as of 1 January 2005.
38 of the 50 US states provide for the death penalty in law. The death penalty is also provided under US federal military and civilian law.

[New Dealer]

57. Google around a country that has a murder rate as high as ours

[undergroundpanther]

29. I wish

that there was a foolproof way pedophiles and sociopaths could be detected,and killed quickly..Pedophiles and sociopaths cause so much harm to individuals, families and entire societies by simply existing around other people.I really don't trust the state(because it's character is half sociopath) to kill them off.But someone has got to step up and do away with pedophiles and sociopaths because they will not stop abusing others until they are dead. You can't ignore them or pretend it ain't there.The damage done is too much.Some people really do not deserve to live because they live to abuse and people that live to abuse do not deserve to live..

[Pepperbelly]

30. That is pretty ... harsh.

How can you possibly know what someone may or may not do in the future?

Who gets to decide who "deserves" to live?

That is perhaps the single most authoritarian thing I have ever heard seriously advocated.

[undergroundpanther]

38. I know it is harsh

But you know what, being abused as a kid for no good reason other than some sadists amusement is harsher.Kids are not to blame here adults and bully enablers are.
I hurt nobody,who isn't hurting me or others.But if I ever caught a pedo in the act he's be a goner.
If you tolerate bullies pedophiles fine for you .But the world would be more peaceful without them messing the minds up of future generations perpetuating the cycles of abuse ,enabling,and learned helplessness crippling our country today..Who says anyone has the "right" to abuse others and live another day to do it again? Nobody does. And if prison ,hormone injections chemical castration,etc.does not stop them from seeking to abuse..Than what will? Do we as a culture have to watch pedophiles like children? Shouldn't we be watching the children rather than wasting time with an adult that cannot will not stop hurting others?

Indigenous cultures would kill off sociopaths they knew...They were aware of the danger that pedophiles, rapists,torturers were to their culture and sanity.Ever wonder how these tribal people were so egalitarian? They were not a huge scale culture like ours where nobody knows each other, and they didn't let bullies get away with abuse,pedophiles,authoritarians rapists were killed off..

[Pepperbelly]

43. ludicrous position...

particularly since you do not have any idea how such a thing could be done without it being just the arbitrary imposition of a death penalty without there first being a criminal act that was committed.

[undergroundpanther]

75. I think

You misunderstand me.
I am not saying just accuse people out of the blue.Most pedos are REPEAT offenders.Observe them first,catch them in thier crimes and make sure there is NO repititions kill them after three convictions..It is very hard to frame someone 3 times and have it stick each time.

[Deja Q]

32. Turn 'em into food for other prisoners.

Like we turn cattle into food for other cattle.

No joke. Violent offenders beyond reform are nothing but a liability.

[Pepperbelly]

33. I cannot believe that I am hearing someone advocate this ...

seriously.

Okay, same questions as for the last poster.

Who gets to decide who deserves to live and who does not?

How can you predicate punishment for what someone might do in the future?

How far a trip is it from here to including phrases such as "useless eaters" into the DU lexicon?

[undergroundpanther]

40. Harsh??

seriously.

>Okay, same questions as for the last poster.

>Who gets to decide who deserves to live and who does not?

Have you ever raped a child? Do you like making people suffer?
Do you like to win at any cost by this I mean willing to maim,torture,rape,destroy even your mother or your own child to win what you want?

>How can you predicate punishment for what someone might do in the >future?

You can't,but you can observe them now,wait,until they fuck up someone and say NO MORE.

>How far a trip is it from here to including phrases such as "useless >eaters" into the DU lexicon?

A bully a pedophile they will not get along with others without hurting them.Authoritarians and sociopaths usually look at everyone as a useless eater to be ecxploited.These elites are usually the ones that show the symptoms of being useless eaters because they live on the suffering of others.How can you make someone whjo has no consience have one? They feel no guilt no shame when they hurt others there is no deterrentr or emotional cost for them so they have no reason to stop.That is one of the problems with them.They use people to abuse people.Living with sociopaths,pedophiles,abusers is INCOMPATIBLE personalities with the concepts of freedom justice or democracy.There will be no freedom democracy or peace with people who refuse to act in a peaceful way a respectful humane and pro-social way.By pro social I mean not deliberately inflicting harm for fun.Some people you really cannot live with and they refuse to leave you alone.I am saddened that there are people beyond redeption.But I can't pin my hope on a star that they change when they refuse to aknowlege my right to live my life unharmed.

[Pepperbelly]

42. So since you dodged my questions ...

Do you think that YOU should have that authority, the authority to merely "decide" that someone is a sociopath beyond redemption and that they should be killed? Who should have that authority?

How do you propose to kill them? Do they have appeal rights?

This is incompatable with the presumption of innocence, due process of law, the right to face accusers, etc. Authoritarian.

I would fight against this.

[undergroundpanther]

76. No

I am not thinking "authority" here..
I am saying if a person is repeatedly caught stop giving them chances.

I was trying to point out WHAT a sociopath IS.
Some people for some reason can't feel shame or guilt when they do wrong things.They are ethically blind.They don't care.And since there is no emotional cost to them,for doing crimes,then there is no deterrent other than not getting caught,and to them this becomes a game that gets people hurt.How do you stop someone who feels no guilt shame or love? Who sees law enforcement as their plaything?
You can't turn the other cheek. You can't let pedophiles out.And why should society pay for these people with no conscience to be babysat forever?
Yes there are exceptions..but sometimes the exceptions are not as common as you would like to think. IF they repeat crimes get caught raping molesting or killing,and gets convicted more than twice or three times..then obviously this person has no conscience and cannot be trusted anymore to live among people with any freedom..

I do not trust people who have no consience.
I don't want people who can't feel love even twords thier own kids or parents,or pets.. who can't feel shame or remorse that is genuine when they harm others to be free to do it again and again.

[uhhuh]

65. Your rant sounds sociopathic to me

There is no empathy for others, just blanket statements about groups or individuals who were, in most cases, VICTIMS, before they were offenders.
Should the government be allowed to kill you now, or should you just be "watched" for a while?

[DistressedAmerican]

34. By All Means Lets Just Join Right In And Make Social Policy Based On One

emotionally charged case! Worked great in the Schaivo case!

[Bill McBlueState]

67. Good call.

That's a pretty good summary of what's going on here.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

35. Only if we give the death penalty to everyone who drops a bomb on children

That is a brutal death too...and completely avoidable

[Laughing Mirror]

41. Thank you!!

[WindyInPA]

37. An 'eye for an eye' for all who kill for pleasure....

I used to have mixed feelings about the death penalty but not anymore. Those who are proven killers and kill for pleasure should be killed. Compassion for those who kill shouldn't be an option. The senseless killings would stop if the killer knew they would definately die. I would like to see this put into law across the nation.

We can't keep collecting killers and take care of them until their natural death. Hard working people who struggle everyday to have a home and raise their families are the victims of all who kill. They pay taxes all of their lives to support and take care of these prisoners! This country has to stop collecting these useless people and not allow them to abuse the court system for 20 years with petty appeals at our expense.

Alot of changes need to be made. The US has more prisoners than anywhere in the world! We need to stop collecting and supporting them and spend the taxpayers money wisely.

Sorry this is so long. I fume everytime a prisoner gets a 'life sentence'. When in doubt, I agree, 'lean on the side of life' until proven otherwise.

Thanks for letting me vent. :)

[WindyInPA]

80. If these deranged individuals lives are spared, what is their function in

prison? They waste 20 years creating ways to get appeals at tax payers expense. Our generation is paying, our kids will have to support these child molesting murders, and their kids are expected to do the same.

It's expensive to take care of prisoners with a life sentence for murder, be it 10 years or 30 years. They have no function in prison or in society. They feed off of society, they produce nothing, and they repay nothing. They use the court system to death at our expense. I can't find a way to think this is okay.

If they do not receive a death sentence, what should we do with them? More prisons than schools and hospitals are being built. The tax payers are paying to accommodate these murders in fancy new high tech facilities. The people paying for this are struggling to feed their kids, to buy a nice home and send their children to college. We pay the college bill for the prisoners.

As an educated society, how can we afford to keep supporting those who do not value life and purposely kill. There is no way to rehabilitate these child molesting murders, they have no place in society and will continue to be a threat the rest of their lives.

I don't want them living next door to me or my children. A life sentence just doesn't work. When sentencing time comes, they beg to have their lives spared. Do they beg to die because they took a life? No.

There has to be a better way with a stronger message sent.

[Trajan]

44. I am anti-death-penalty ..... EXCEPT ....

for child murderers .....

Killing a child is not mutual combat .... it is NEVER a 'fair fight' .. it is ALWAYS a predator killing a weak and defenseless human being ....

I can eventually excuse nearly EVERY other crime .... but I can pull the switch on a child murderer .....

[thecorster]

46. I work with inmates

on the prison unit at the hospital and I can tell you that prison ain't that bad to these guys. They can claim chest pain and come to the hospital on medical vacation, get snacks, cable tv, pain meds, etc.

i will say, though, that child molestors do have it pretty rough. there a sort of caste system in the pokey... "honorable" crimes vs "dihonorable" ones. the guys in for theft or muder will beat the hell out of child molestors any day of the week.

the point of this post is to say that, while i don't support the death penalty, you can't just assume that life in prison is going to be awful on someone.

[neebob]

47. Time was I'd have agreed with you

and it wasn't that long ago, but then I thought about it and decided the death penalty is wrong, period. If we had a more just society, there would be much less of a need for a such a thing because there would be a lot less of all kinds of crime. I know that'll never happen and the world is what it is, but it doesn't make the death penalty any less wrong. I say lock 'em up for life on the first offense.

[spanone]

48. Kill someone to show that killing is not right....hmmmm. Makes no sense.

[sandnsea]

49. An illusion of a solution

It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy about fighting horrible crime, but it doesn't do shit about the problems.

We have too many non-violent offenders in prison. We don't adequately detect violent offenders. We don't take real sex crimes seriously enough. We sentence somebody to more time if they rob a gas station than if they rape a woman or molest a child.

The death penalty lets people feel tough on crime, while allowing them to ignore the truly difficult questions of how to prevent crime.

Just another GOP illusion.

[MisterP]

50. I'm still against it, even if every case makes me want to bite my fingers

off

[Solly Mack]

51. Well, if you really want revenge, why hide behind the state?

Do it yourself!

I mean, sure, it's easier to let the state exact revenge for you and it does have the added bonus of getting your revenge without being charged for it..afterall, when the state does it, it's legal! Plus, you can label it justice and feel smugly self-righteous about it all. What could be better?

[ReadTomPaine]

52. Death Penalty Advocates: Why Not Televise? (Graphic)

Why be coy? If the reason to execute criminals is revenge and deterrence, then I don’t see the problem with running the images live on prime time television. In fact, make it a stadium event. Security would be cheap. Who cares if anyone takes a potshot at the guy? And you can always sell tickets and use the money for some other noble cause.

This sort of thing has been done before. Sure it happened ages ago.. but I’m talking even more recently, right here in the United States. People would get all dressed up, take the kids, and watch someone burn. I’m sure the sense of satisfaction and justice was overwhelming as the sky filled with the thick smoke of burning human fat. Organized by the state, everything would be neat, orderly, and guilt free. Take a look below - not at the bodies, but at the crowds.

No matter what someone has done, are you sure about this?













RTP

[ikojo]

55. Not only did the kids and parents attend lynchings,

wearing their Sunday best, but postcards were made of the photos and sent to friends and family for that "wish you were here moment". Isn't that just grand?

Given the history in the US, this country hardly has the moral highground to preach to others around the world how they should conduct their affairs.

[ReadTomPaine]

79. The second to last image is, in fact, a memento postcard of that type..

[New Dealer]

59. Holy shit

I don't even know what to say about those pictures... especially the first one.

[Hippo_Tron]

54. Life in prison is worse

As some have mentioned above, solitary confinement would be showing them mercy because the general prison population would beat them to death. Granted, I don't approve of prisons like this because I think that it is cruel and unusual but as of now, it's a reality. The death penalty would just be putting them out of their misery, frankly. Besides, even if you still think that it's okay for the state to execute people, it's still more expensive than just locking them up and throwing away the key.

[New Dealer]

61. Most people sentenced to death try to get life

However, no one sentenced to life asks for death.

[w4rma]

64. Never say "no one" (absolutes). We all know that's not true. (nt)

[tinanator]

58. castration and life, save the death penalty for lying politicians

thats what i think

[rooboy]

60. If you want to be really cruel, just put them in medium security...

and let them mix with the general prison population. A similar killer in my neck of the woods found himself being held down and having barbed wire shoved up his ass by the other prisoners.

I don't support the death penalty. But there should be no parole ever for people who commit these sorts of crimes.

[K8-EEE]

66. Quick Death Is Too Good For This Guy

Put this guy in the most hellish jail situation we got and let him suffer for the rest of his life.

[nonconformist]

68. I admit, I feel so conflicted about this

I know I'm thinking with my emotions and that's not necessarily the best thing to base policy decisions on.

As a mother, I'd kill a monster who hurt my babies myself, I swear to GOD I WOULD. Then I'd go to prison, but maybe I could take some comfort in knowing that beast would never hurt another child again.

However, I do have to be logical and my brain tells me that the death penalty system is flawed and barbaric. So while I'm still opposed on principle to the death penalty, I admit I wouldn't shed a tear for a child rapist/murderer. And this will probably be unpopular, but I do support someone using vigilante justice on these animals if the legal system fails us. If our government fails to protect our weakest and most vulnerable citizens, then parents might have to take that burden on ourselves.

I'm suddenly reminded of several movies... most notably 'An Eye For An Eye' with Sally Field and 'A Time To Kill'. And ironically, the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' series.

Anyway, I strongly support mandatory life sentences without parole for child molesters. Studies have proven that these beasts cannot be rehabilitated... much like serial killers, once they get a taste for it they can't control their urges even if they want to. And even with life in prison, I support chemical castration for violent child sex predators. I know many will disagree, but there it is. These beasts cannot be rehabilitated, even when the criminal wants to be, and they have no place in our society. When you fuck little kids and murder them for your own perverse pleasure, you have willingly negated your "civil rights" in my opinion.

Flame away. I am a very empathetic, logical and liberal person - but these animals are the scum of the Earth and I have nothing for them. In fact, I'd argue that protecting children at all costs is a pretty empathetic, logical and liberal stance.

[mitchum]

69. In my opinion, those who are opposed to the death penalty, but...

favor letting fellow inmates punish these perpetrators are nothing more than civic cowards and hypocrites.
Now, just WHO is the more bloodthirsty?

[Bouncy Ball]

72. I'm for REAL punishment: lock them up and throw away the key.

Now THAT is a punishment. Force them to live out their natural days in solitude, complete boredom, possibly madness.

[alcuno]

73. "The bar is set so high for bad behavior in Florida, that no one notices."

60 Minutes had some Floridian writer who was just bashing his state tonight. More than twice the number of sex offenders that there are in NY? And NY has 3 million more people?

[lonestarnot]

77. Cheaper to lock em up and throw away the key

[quaoar]

78. I agree

Fry his ass. He's a waste of oxygen.

[Maru Kitteh]

81. Whether or not they deserve to die

I still think it is wrong for a state to kill it's citizens. I am for locking up a sexual predator from the first offense until such time as it can be PROVEN that they will never offend again, if that be the rest of their lives for one offense, so be it. I don't care.

[lala_rawraw]

82. What is with Florida lately?

I swear, Florida and Texas are like criminal hotbeds (and don't yell at me people from Florida, I live here).