Thread: Shall the criminally insane be put down like a dog with rabies?

Yes is my answer. Why not? We shoot horses don't we? we call it merciful. We put down dogs not only for being rabid, but for doing what comes natural to them? We call that protecting society. why not apply the same standards to the criminally insane? Would we put Hitler behind bars?

What say you?

Mark have often do i have to tell you these simple God fearing folks are just exercising their individuality and need to be propped up as role models for the young and faint of heart. Reward them and they will prosper!

I voted "no". If we were to put people down, we would need even more psychs involved in everything. As a novice Scientologist, I find that too great a price to pay.

James.

No.

Because how long will it be until people use it as an excuse to get rid of undesirables?

Originally Posted by JMS

Yes is my answer. Why not? We shoot horses don't we? we call it merciful. We put down dogs not only for being rabid, but for doing what comes natural to them? We call that protecting society. why not apply the same standards to the criminally insane? Would we put Hitler behind bars?

What say you?

Hitler did advocate the killing of the mentally ill, like yourself. As for comparisons to rabid dogs we do not euthanize people regardless of how ill they are. Mental illness can come on for so many reason, acquired brain injury for one. Think about it next time you drive a car, it may be you that will be put down like a rabid dog. It is not a perfect world, but as you point the finger for people to be executed the tide may well change and you may be caught in the net you created.

I tend to disagree with any form of death penalty because there is not yet an instant and painless way of doing it. Research done during the French revoultion (I don't know how scientific) found that the brain remains conscious for a few seconds after it is removed from the rest of the body. For this reason both beheading and hanging are not instant and painless. Then there is electrocution. By all accounts it is an incredibally painful and horrible way to die. Then with firing squads, the victim often takes up to 15 minutes to die as the heart pumps blood out of the body. Even if the shot destroys the heart the victim will still take a number of minutes to die. Shooting in the head is not viable as the intact head is used as part of the identification (have to make sure they shot the right person).
And there has recently been some legal action in the US as to weather or not leathal injection is a cruel and unusal punishment.
Then there is also the argument that if they are criminally insane they suffer from a mental illness and therefor are less culpable.

Lethal injection is painless. I don't know what is wrong with the painful way of execution anyway. I want them to have as much pain as they inflicted on their victims. The problem is that it takes too long from sentencing to execution. One appeal within two weeks then . Drunk is no excuse. Drugs is no excuse. Insane is no excuse. Serve the penalty either in prison or institution for criminally insane. If death is sentenced so be it. Let it be done.

bj

using your rabid dog example:

would you put down a dog if you could cure it of it's rabies, or there might be a potential fix on the horizon? what if you mis-diagnosed the dog?

what if you were that dog?

Your reasoning would allow for euthanasia of all people suffering from incurable diseases no? Life itself is an terminal condition, so where do you draw the line? Do you trust society to draw that line? I do not.

why would one only apply your reasoning to only the 'criminally' insane and not just the potentially insane, who might one day become criminals? Perhaps we should just gas 'em all right? Sane criminals are probably more harmful to society as a whole.

If you've ever driven over the speed limit, you have committed a crime. society agrees with me that you are a criminal and should be put down to avoid potential speeding in the future. I'd even venture to say that more are killed per year by traffic accidents than by the criminally insane.


Your example of Hitler raises another question: was he insane, or were his followers? Surely we would put all of germany behind bars wouldn't we?

How about this:

doesn't poverty cause more crime than insanity?

Originally Posted by 2Sharp

Lethal injection is painless. I don't know what is wrong with the painful way of execution anyway. I want them to have as much pain as they inflicted on their victims. The problem is that it takes too long from sentencing to execution. One appeal within two weeks then Drunk is no excuse. Drugs is no excuse. Insane is no excuse. Serve the penalty either in prison or institution for criminally insane. If death is sentenced so be it. Let it be done.

bj

And what about the people who got convicted only because they were black / muslim?
DNA testing has exonerated many people who got convicted for the wrong reasons.

Innocents (or at least innocent of the crime for which they were convicted) can get convicted too.
Imo it's a bit shortsighted to just say 'well, as long as it isn't me...'

Originally Posted by Trev1960

Hitler did advocate the killing of the mentally ill, like yourself.

Did Mark advocate that in another thread or conversation somewhere? There is a difference between mental illness and criminal insanity!