Texas Considers Executing Repeat Child Rapists

[Libra Girl]

It's only my opinion. To use your analogy...I do believe that raping a child is a worse violation than torturing an adult...but then I could be biased, as I only have knowledge about one of them.

...and your opinion is as valid as anyone elses here Josephine, especially since you have experienced either torture or child abuse, as you mentioned.
Personally I 'sit on the fence' on the issue of the death penalty. I do feel that some crimes merit such extreme measures, yet the knowledge that over 122 death row inmates have been freed since the 70's, because of indisputable evidence such as DNA, or other, as uncomfortable as it is I can't seem to alight from the fence one way or another.

 

[unclepercy]

We should find a remote island somewhere and air drop all the lifers on it. Navies can patrol the island so there won't be any escape.

I thought of this same thing years ago. Let the troublemakers create a society that suits them. Drop a load of pork and beans once a month and see what happens...
Uncle

 

[Josephine]

I thought of this same thing years ago. Let the troublemakers create a society that suits them. Drop a load of pork and beans once a month and see what happens...
Uncle

I'll vote for that...would be quite interesting to see how they manage!:lol:

 

[talloola]

I am thoroughly in favour of executing them, and murderers as well, as I think Texas does many.
In my opinion the person committing the crime, is deciding 'his/her own fate when they committ
the crime, and nobody is making a decision to kill, they made it themselves, the only move left
if actually doing it, and that is also done with the killer/rapists permission, at the second he/she
committed the crime.

 

[the caracal kid]

i would ask of all those so quick to drop the axe on those convicted, would you step forward to do the act yourself?

how would you feel should it be found that the person you killed was innocent?

should you then also be put to death for for your crime?


so easy it is to disregard life. so easy it is to justify the slaughtering of others.

this is a true measure of a society.

for in the devalation of a life of one you hold in contempt,

you devalue the life of all within your society.

 

[Josephine]

i would ask of all those so quick to drop the axe on those convicted, would you step forward to do the act yourself?

how would you feel should it be found that the person you killed was innocent?

should you then also be put to death for for your crime?


so easy it is to disregard life. so easy it is to justify the slaughtering of others.

this is a true measure of a society.

for in the devalation of a life of one you hold in contempt,

you devalue the life of all within your society.

Being totally honest here...I think if it came down to it...I could be the one to drop the ax...for this crime. And in regards to this crime, the number of false accusations can be quite high, but the number of those falsely convicted...I don't event know those statistics, and I couldn't find them on the net. People are falsely convicted of murder...but I haven't heard of any where someone is falsely convicted of raping a child or molesting them.

 

[normbc9]

While I don't pretend to know all of the facts surrounding this stand by some legislators in Texas I do applaud the approach to handling any repeat rapist whether the victim is male or female (there are male rape victims too) anyone who is so out of control and violent as this should be dealt with in the harshest of manners. We as a society are too accepting about what the excuses are mouthed by the perpetrators of violent crimes against another human being such as this. Nothing gives anyone the right to commit a crime like this against another human being. What does seem to help as a deterrent to the vicious crimes of this nature is the fear of getting caught by the perpetrator. I'll bet there would be a small deterrent affect. Any affect at all is a positive step in my book. We need to become stricter as a society about crimes of this nature. They are unaccepatble to me and certainly cause irreperable damage to the victims.

 

[temperance]

All back it!!! I think that some people that live thur sexual rape as children have to live a life of utter pain ,feelings of dirtiness and other problems with thier sexuality --What does the rapist get 3 squares, meds and warm bed and out in a couple years to rob another life ,castration does work ,they(goverment) may have to do something before people take it upon themselves to remove the rapist.We as a society pay for this person 100.00 at least a day court fees and all just to see it happen over and over .

 

[talloola]

i would ask of all those so quick to drop the axe on those convicted, would you step forward to do the act yourself?
Don't agree with any of the above. We must look after our children, they are innocent, and stop for a minute, close your eyes, and actually visualize exactly what those monsters
do to our children. The last one, Jessica, was raped, and stuffed into a plastic bag, sealed
up, and buried, when they found her, they proved that she had been alive, as there were
scratch marks up and down the inside of the bag. Trained medical prison staff can
do the job, no axes, just a lethal dose, those monsters go to jail, then they come out and
do the same crime over and over, they are never cured, they are in the country by the
thousands and thousands, everything that has been done so far, has not worked, so, do
you think it's OK for these monsters to come out of jail and rape and murder our children?
These people are the scum of the earth. They are taking over the internet with their filth, and they are making families worry, to even let their children go to and from school alone.

 

[the caracal kid]

the only thing worse now is the fearmongering.

Indeed, society must look after itself. This is the universal justification for every act of terrorism commited.

 

[s243a]

As nice it would be to drop the axe on some of these people does this law mean that the same people that lose their innocents will also lose a member of their family?

 

[chilloo]

I support this decision.

 

[Pangloss]

Caracal:

The thoughtless posts from some here so very eager to push the plunger or pull the trigger give me pause:

Are we that narcissistic that we think that our own personal experiences are the only ones that matter?

Are we that foolish that we can create an overpowering, reactive and vengeful justice system and think it will not one day come and crush us?

Are we that certain that the "bad people" are not us and never will be?

Are we so eager for vengence that we will kill swiftly, and remorselessly, giving little thought to wrongful convictions and the possibility of redemption, however remote?

Have we totally forgotten William Blake's caution (and here I paraphrase): When battling monsters, take care not to become one yourself.

Killing the killers makes us killers too. No way around that.

Pangloss

 

[tamarin]

"Have we totally forgotten William Blake's caution (and here I paraphrase): When battling monsters, take care not to become one yourself."

I should think most people are barely aware of the mystic and poet. How relevant he is to such a discussion eludes me.

"Killing the killers makes us killers too. No way around that"

And taking this nugget even further: allowing the convicted freedom again and they subsequently rape makes us rapists too?
Is that how it works?

There are a number of sticks in the pot here. Certainly, western culture with its pervasive exploitation of children isn't helping. The Internet has merely compounded the problem. I doubt any ultimate solution will be found.

 

[Pangloss]

"Have we totally forgotten William Blake's caution (and here I paraphrase): When battling monsters, take care not to become one yourself."

I should think most people are barely aware of the mystic and poet. How relevant he is to such a discussion eludes me.

"Killing the killers makes us killers too. No way around that"

And taking this nugget even further: allowing the convicted freedom again and they subsequently rape makes us rapists too?
Is that how it works?

There are a number of sticks in the pot here. Certainly, western culture with its pervasive exploitation of children isn't helping. The Internet has merely compounded the problem. I doubt any ultimate solution will be found.

Tamarin:

First, sorry for things eluding you - can't do anything about that for you. Gotta fix that yourself.

Allowing the convicted freedom again makes us rapists? If we reasonably believe they will re-offend, then, sure, we are complicit. That would be bad.

But you are making a false comparison here: your argument here assumes the alternative to killing the convicted is to release them. There are many other alternatives, and I am not arguing for or against any of them.

Of course, actually reading my post would have made that clear. Perhaps its meaning eluded you.

Pangloss

 

[tamarin]

Pangloss, the devil can quote scripture to suit his own purpose and we can choose willynilly in a pantheon of past thinkers to suit ours. But what's accomplished? Little.
Vapid assertions such as 'killing killers makes us killers' are equally absurd.
We'll always be forced to a compromise on issues like this but it would be helpful if society took the lead in setting and enforcing higher expectations for all participants in our media-driven culture.

 

[normbc9]

One thing I always liked about William Blake's writings was that it did make sense. It's too bad many of the offenders of crimes of this nature care little or nothing about those words of wisdom. In some foreign cultures these offenders are considered as a parasite on their society and they are tortured and then killed. I oppose that theory or practice but the shot on the table is pretty much painless and the costs of that are small compared to damage they have done to their victims and the potential of a repeat of this action when released. Maybe you have a better answer Pangloss. I'd sure be willing to listen. The courts are now choked in my area waiting to hear several of these senseless cases.

 

[Pangloss]

Tamarin:

Again, that whole eluding thing. Sorry dude, I can see it's still a problem.

As for using quotes (something I do quite rarely), well I'll just side with all those great essayists like Woolf, Montaigne, St Exupry, Fitzgerald, and Dr. Johnson. A quote can be quite helpful in pointing readers to another body of work that might buttress their argument or make it more easily understood. Or it might just introduce a little poetry into one's writing - not a bad thing, from time to time.

"Killing killers makes us killers" could only be vapid if it were untrue: even tautologies can teach us something. So, not vapid.

Pangloss

 

[Pangloss]

Normbc9:

Man, I don't know what to do. Not the specifics anyway. But maybe a list of priorities might help:

1) Stop the person from doing more harm.

2) Determine guilt or innocence.

3) Determine punishment.

4) Attempt rehabilitation.

5) If you can reasonably believe that the rehabilitation was effective and that person has been adequately punished, release them. And monitor them.

And never forget priority #1.

Incredibly vague and open-ended, I know. But one must always start at the beginning, do they not?

Pangloss

 

[tamarin]

Quotes can be wonderful. Poetry engaging. In the end they all go in the soup. I just hope the cook is paying attention to his recipe. After all, there is the matter of the diners.