Terrorists SUCK

[ThisYouWillDo]

Actually, in this case he had not yet gone to trial but was being held pending trial. The example was only to show that prison is not necessarily a safe punishment. As for execution, no, I do not propose bringing back hanging for minor offenses. But there have been some cases recently where I honestly wouldn't mind seeing them institute public crucifixions for some criminals.

Now you're alarming me. You don't know for certain this man is guilty, yet because he is charged with a most heinous crime, you consider it better that he be executed summarily - possibly crucified (which is one of the worst possible ways of dying, and probably unconstitutional, being "cruel and unusual") - rather than run the risk of him escaping before trial.

Maybe he fled because he knows he has hundreds of unpaid parking tickets. (That is flippant, but I said it demonstrate that you can't even assume guilt when a person escapes from custody.) It seems to me that you've turned the Blackstone Ratio on its head: better that ten innocents suffer than that one guilty person escapes.

TYWD

[Thorne]

Now you're alarming me. You don't know for certain this man is guilty, yet because he is charged with a most heinous crime, you consider it better that he be executed summarily - possibly crucified (which is one of the worst possible ways of dying, and probably unconstitutional, being "cruel and unusual") - rather than run the risk of him escaping before trial.

Maybe he fled because he knows he has hundreds of unpaid parking tickets. (That is flippant, but I said it demonstrate that you can't even assume guilt when a person escapes from custody.) It seems to me that you've turned the Blackstone Ratio on its head: better that ten innocents suffer than that one guilty person escapes.

TYWD

Obviously I'm not making myself clear, here. I am NOT advocating the death penalty for this guy before he's even tried. I was using this as an example of why, sometimes, a prison sentence may not solve the problem. I certainly believe he deserves a fair and unbiased trial to determine IF he is guilty. And even if he should prove to be guilty of this crime, I don't believe I would advocate the death penalty for him anyway, unless he's got a long history of this kind of thing, in which case PERHAPS it might be justified.

As for escaping, I would find it hard to believe that he would break out BEFORE he's tried if he were not guilty of something. Even if it's just parking tickets. I think most jurors would view an escape as a de facto admission of guilt, even if instructed NOT to do so.

And in regards to crucifixion, yes it would be considered cruel and unusual punishment, and is most certainly unconstitutional. But there are some seriously evil people out there who have been convicted of horrible crimes and are languishing in prison while the families of their victims have had their lives completely demolished by these people. (Charles Manson comes to mind off the top of my head.) Sometimes, really, I wish the punishment could fit the crime. Let the criminal get a taste of what his victims endured.

I once read a science fiction story involving virtual reality in which a killer was sentenced to die virtually, seven times. He had to endure a virtual hanging, burning at the stake, disemboweling and several other horrific deaths, without actually being killed or even physically harmed. This would be ideal for some of those really nasty criminals out there, and it wouldn't violate your taboos against capital punishment, either.