Here's this douche. Given that we've recently had discussion about educating the ignorant, I figure this is an awesome extreme case to test things. The kid in the article killed people in cold blood, showed no remorse, and he's now verbally taunted the families of the victims in open court.
Assuming he's found guilty, do we:
1) kill him or lock him up forever, removing him from society until he dies?
2) try to untangle the fucked up brain that lives inside his skull? This would be the rehabilitation route. Is there any hope for someone this fucked up?
3) punish him in some attempt at revenge or retribution of some kind, so perhaps he can understand the pain he inflicted upon others?
I'm personally of the opinion that the trial right now is a waste of fucking time. That's just a formality of the judicial system. I say he ought to be executed already because he's sucking up otherwise valuable resources from other species on this planet.
Edited By Malcolm on 1363805063
rehabilitaton v punishment
I could make him regret it and show remorse.
Showing him naked pictures of yourself is cruel and unusual punishment and against international laws.
Seriously though, those are interesting options you've listed, and you missed at least one more:
1. This is my favorite, not only for people like this, but also for three strike criminals, although I'd raise the bar to 4 or 5 felonies (can't all be during a single arrest). I'd do this to avoid mistaken prosecutions. If your 4th or 5th one wasn't legit, who gives a fuck? You're obviously a piece of shit. However, the thing I don't like about it is the argument it gives hippies, and we're not studying the truly crazy.
2. This is the interesting one, but what have we learned from ANY of these individuals? A whole lot of nothing. Basically, just patterns and signs, but they aren't gospel. I'd say let them decide if they allow us to truly study them, and if not, use them for medical research. Inject them with AIDS, and try different vaccines on them. Did you cure the AIDS? Great, now give them cancer. Literally make them breathing cadavers.
3. Nah. Too much ammo for hippies, and it's nothing but vengeance. It'd be a worse punishment if we passed a law where the media could only identify them by their first name and the first letter in their last name. NO PHOTOS allowed in any reports on the crime. That info would still be public record, but purposely force media outlets to not give the killer ANY press. IMHO, that'd be a big deterrent to the mass shooting assholes. Anyway, once again, instead of vengeance, turn them into test dummies out of the public eye, never known, and forgotten. It's essentially the worst possible punishment for the public spectacle seekers.
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
The thing is rehabilitation in this sort of extreme case is impossible, or at least impractical. If you can actually make him understand what he has done and why it's so wrong, the only rational response left to him would be to kill himself in shame and remorse. So rehabilitation would be pointless.
Punishment for the purpose of revenge is not an appropriate thing to be spending tax dollars on. I wouldn't be opposed a system where once found guilty someone can have their legal protections removed so that anyone can do whatever they want to them in revenge, but I can't see having the government doing the revenge on our behalf as an appropriate thing to be doing. So revenge as a goal is out.
Really, it's got to be all about removing them permanently from society in these extreme cases. Any other purpose is either a waste of time or improper for the government to be doing. IMO.
Edited By TPRJones on 1363803847
Punishment for the purpose of revenge is not an appropriate thing to be spending tax dollars on. I wouldn't be opposed a system where once found guilty someone can have their legal protections removed so that anyone can do whatever they want to them in revenge, but I can't see having the government doing the revenge on our behalf as an appropriate thing to be doing. So revenge as a goal is out.
Really, it's got to be all about removing them permanently from society in these extreme cases. Any other purpose is either a waste of time or improper for the government to be doing. IMO.
Edited By TPRJones on 1363803847
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
To self-respond to each of options, particularly with respect to mistaken verdicts:
Imprisoning people for decades is expensive, especially when "imprisonment" is the punishment for so many minor bullshit offenses that don't warrant real jail. If you could fix that last part, I'd support it more. On the flip side, if you find someone wrongfully convicted, it's easy to unlock the door and let them walk out.
Making people glorified lab animals is an interesting option. Lots of information we have about how much stress the human body can take comes from the WWII Nazi concentration camp torture records. The Japanese had similar paperwork pinned on them. The downside here is no takesies-backsies. After we blast you with gamma radiation to see how much you can handle, there's no reversing it.
As for the third, think of something more 1984ish. Outright killing is too clunky and obvious. Breaking their spirit is more the goal.
A media blackout would be a decent start, but virtually impossible to enforce. Think of all the dudes we know from ancient history that had their memory condemned. The ability to deprive psychos of the attention their psychoses bring them is something that has been grasped at for a bit, but never done with a lot of success.
Mainly because of reactions like this, which is exactly what the psycho is fishing for.
Imprisoning people for decades is expensive, especially when "imprisonment" is the punishment for so many minor bullshit offenses that don't warrant real jail. If you could fix that last part, I'd support it more. On the flip side, if you find someone wrongfully convicted, it's easy to unlock the door and let them walk out.
Making people glorified lab animals is an interesting option. Lots of information we have about how much stress the human body can take comes from the WWII Nazi concentration camp torture records. The Japanese had similar paperwork pinned on them. The downside here is no takesies-backsies. After we blast you with gamma radiation to see how much you can handle, there's no reversing it.
As for the third, think of something more 1984ish. Outright killing is too clunky and obvious. Breaking their spirit is more the goal.
A media blackout would be a decent start, but virtually impossible to enforce. Think of all the dudes we know from ancient history that had their memory condemned. The ability to deprive psychos of the attention their psychoses bring them is something that has been grasped at for a bit, but never done with a lot of success.
Victims' relatives addressing the court expressed rage at Lane. Holly Walczak told Lane she hated him. Russell King Jr.'s sister referred to him as an "evil, disgusting animal."
Mainly because of reactions like this, which is exactly what the psycho is fishing for.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Life in jail, no parole.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."