Don’t you think being killed is a punishment in itself?
Having inadvertently digressed greatly from the OP - for which I deeply apologise - I will address the questions posed so far:
Statistically speaking, death row vs general population, perhaps not. After looking for cite information, it would be necessary to look at each state’s statistics then collate them here. However, if execution were carried out in a timely manner there would be much more room for those just sentenced to prison.
everton - The reason I mentioned the conundrum was because it is the obvious flaw with my comment/opinion. Rather than have someone else post this, decided to post it myself to demonstrate awareness of said comment’s flaw.
As for wether or not capital punishment is a strongly sufficient detterent I truly believe it could be if inforced properly. In countries where punishment is related to the crime - eg. losing a hand for stealing, etc - do these types of punishment not work to reduce crime figures? If the US were serious about reducing crime, then punishment would be more appropriate, timely dealt with and uniform in delivery (rich don’t get off for crimes and are treated like everyone else) then the US would see a drastic decrease in prison figures IMHO.
Something seriously needs to be done to reduce crime and reduce the number of people in prisons. No one wants a prison in their backyard… What do you reccommend?
No. That’s why I emphasized the difference between punishment and mere consequence. Anticipation of death in whatever form might be considered a punishment, I suppose, but we all have that anticipation without knowing when it may happen or how. In the case of a criminal, knowledge in advance not only of the time, but of the manner of death is the punishment. There should be an element of dread. Death itself is the release. I admit, revenge has much to do with it. That’s probably just a character flaw in me.
To reiterate, though. I would not like to see the death penalty carried out on anyone until we can be 100 percent sure of the person’s guilt. Since that’s not possible, I’m beginning to sway against the death penalty entirely.
In ‘The Number of the Beast’ by Robert Heinlein, he postulates an interesting approach, in which “An eye for an eye” is taken literally. In the example given, a guy drove drunk and hit someone, backed over them to go back and see what they hit, then drove off again. Someone else saw the victim and called for an ambulance, which arrived some twenty minutes later. The driver was held stationary so he could be hit by a car, then driven over a couple times and they waited to give medical treatment for exactly twenty minutes, There was no further punishment. Steal something? You will work until the monetary amount stolen is returned to the person you stole it from. Stab someone to death? Get stabbed.
I’m not saying I like this system, but it does solve quite a few problems. Take the stabbing- If you stabbed someone fifteen times and they died, you get stabbed fifteen times, only you’re in a controlled environment to prevent death. After you’re healed, you would work to pay back the state for your medical care.
Nobody has to die, and everyone is punished appropriately. This also eliminates the ‘crimes’ that hurt nobody.
Of course, there are some things that should be a crime without having any immediate effects merely for their potential to inflict harm. An example that comes to mind is selling dangerous drugs to children, or planning but not actually committing a crime. I’m not sure how this system would address that.
Yes, there’s always the problem of punishing the innocent. In any system of punsihment, you will evetually get the wrong guy, and he’ll suffer. I don’t think there’s any way around that.
HennaDancer
You mean locked myself up in my home?
Can’t do that, there are chores at home and outside I have to carry on as an inmate of the world outside prison.
You mean commit a crime and get locked up.
Two conditions are necessary here:
First I have to perpetrate a victimless crime.
Is there a victimless crime?
I would not want to hurt anyone or damage anything that the law says should not be hurt or damaged.
Second, I can’t choose the kind of jail where I want to get dispatched to, one which I have described in my previous posts.
But I am looking up the Internet for jails where the living conditions and the moral and physical health situation from fellow inmates are not intolerable, but are as I have described.
I am planning to send them application for humanitarian volunteer service in any capacity, provided I enjoy all the humane facilities and perks of prison life in a well ordered state of the art prison with a very humanistic outlook.
Susma Rio Sep
Well, it’s appropriate that you say “like a monk” because you aren’t describing life in a prison. You are describing life in a modernized cloister. If you are serious, why don’t you become a monk?