Old enough to know better

[El-Moldo]

Before the Big Crash of 2005, we had a great discussion on the juvenile death penalty. Many of you thought that the ruling was correct, not to allow anyone under 18 to be put to death for murder. Some reasons given for this thinking were 1) young people at that age don't really know what they are doing. That their frontal lobes had not developed enough for them to make rational decisions under stress and 2) since they will be going to be imprisoned for the rest of their lives, maybe 50-60 years, isn't that punishment enough.....My question is, what should we do to the murderer who is, say, 65 years old or older? Should the death penalty be mandatory in cases like this?....The average lifespan in America is approx 75 years. Should we give a 68 year old a "life sentence" at this point? What's that, a few measily years? Doesn't seem to be that much of a punishment for murder, does it? Spending a few years in prison for willfully taking someone's life. Especially with all the amenities of prison life such as food, clothing, entertainment, health care. And again, we are talking about dealing out "punishment" here. Why the need to keep an old guy around, or rehabilitate anyone who will never be out on the street again....We have to understand that the arguments against the juvenile death penalty don't apply to old coots. They certainly have well developed frontal lopes, so they know right from wrong and can certainly rationalize certain situations. Plus they won't BE in prison for 50-60 years, the ultimate punishment for juveniles. Why give someone life in prison when he will only be "slightly" punished for murder?

[The Ancient Enemy]

Like I said, I think all juveniles should get the death penalty.

[CRLionDawg]

I agree. Juveniles can comprehend what they are doing. WHy do you think they sneak around?

[DCPassarelli]

I am writing a satire related to this. I will post it when I am finished with it. It is rather humorous.

[El-Moldo]

Anyone remember the movie "Cool Hand Luke"? Somewhere along the line, the penal system in this country shifted from a system of punishment to a system of so-called rehabilitation. Go back about 60-70 years. In those days, if you were guilty of rape, stealing a car, or robbing a bank, you were sent to prison for ONE reason: FOR PUNISHMENT!!! Now I'm not saying that everyone ended up in a chain gang removing stumps from a swamp, but being in jail was NOT FUN. So much so, that if stealing a car got you into jail, you would think twice about doing it again when you got back out. Just like a parent paddling a kid for doing something bad. He would less likely do it again....Then at some point, the sociologists of America decided that prison was not really meant for punishment, but it was meant for rehabilitation. So the fear of punishment was no longer in the minds of criminals. They knew if they ended up in jail the wouldn't be cracking rocks with a sledgehammer, or getting bread and water to live on. So what was to deter them.... So you rob a Sheetz and get caught. So what? What's the worst that can happen? You go to jail for awhile and learn a trade or something. That's gonna make someone think twice about committing a crime? Just like with kids. If all little Billy gets when he's bad is a "timeout", he's never gonna change. A good paddling after the first time, and the problem is solved....So maybe, if the above mentioned 68 year old found guilty of murder was actually punished in prison, I say keep 'em alive. Otherwise, off with his head.

[The Ancient Enemy]

God that movie is so great.

[CRLionDawg]

I dont know the actual statistics but it seems to me the death penalty has been used more often these past few years. Has the crime rate declined with it?

[The Ancient Enemy]

Last I heard was that the crime rates go up just as much as they do when the death penalty is around as when it is not.

[southpaw]

Don't compare crime rates with the death penalty. The two are not related. Statistics can be skewed about any way you want and prove little.

I don't know about the rest of you but I think the child molesters should get the chair, needle, gas, or whatever. I think molesting a child is the most hienous of crimes.

[LionPride]

[quote="southpaw";p="84893"]I don't know about the rest of you but I think the child molesters should get the chair, needle, gas, or whatever. I think molesting a child is the most hienous of crimes.[/quote]

I agree with that 100%.