Where did my post say anything about giving criminals more rights? But while we're on that subject, here are the rights I think criminals should lose. The right to vote. The right to "better food" than bread, water, and the super tough meat of their choice. The right to safety. Prisons should be a seething pile of anger and violence. So much so that if the criminal makes it to being released, he will not want to go back.

But I was talking about how I feel we're still a better country than the middle east and many other places because of how we've evolved and how we've moved onward and upward. Maybe we're not more enlightened, but I still think we're better. If we bring back more "tasteless" forms of punishment, not only do we have to rewrite our Constitution, but we've started down a slippery slope that we were previously climbing up.

Let's say we start beheading our crooks. What other inhibitions are we going to break down? Shall we bring back burnings at the stake? Shall we bring back being pulled apart by wild horses? Cutting out your intestines and setting it on fire in front of you? Drawing and quartering? History is filled with these strange ways that mankind has used to punish its criminals. Most societies have since put away these "toys" and "grown up". The middle east, and some other places, seem to be the only ones stuck in the past, and their justice system isn't my only complaint about them. I'd rather not see the rest of the world compare us to the middle east. There ARE people out there who would love nothing better than to see America under sharia law so we can start beheading people and using the punishment on crimes that don't even involve death. I'd just as sooner put a bullet in my brain than see my country reduced to that.

It may take more than a thousand years, but I think the natural evolution of the penal system is finding out what causes the criminal element and stopping it. In the mean time, we'd be better served singling out the people who do want to change after release and help them become better members of society.

and yet.. how many murders and robberies occur in nations that still use those 'toys' as punishment for said crimes?

maybe there are some things that justify what our scaredy cat leaders define as 'cruel and unusual' punishment.

That'll make us no better than the criminals we're trying to pursue. Do we punish a criminal that dips his victims in acid by dipping the criminal in acid as well? What separates hero from villain besides authority?

do you think a criminal is actually deterred by prison or jail time? those places are in some cases pretty cushy.. free meals, beds, clean sheets/clothes... cable tv... free college degrees...

there was a news story not long ago about prisoners trying to get longer sentences to avoid being released during this recession. they were denied thankfully.

I was over in Saudi during Desert Storm/Shield, to say they have a different way of doing things is an understatement, and it has only gotten worse since then, that is if you are a female, crimenal or a Christian/Jew, They don't have much of a need for divorce/crimenal lawers over there that's for sure

Well that can and SHOULD be changed. But how do we get to decide who to terminate, and where do we draw the line on what methods we use to kill people? Do we start killing graffiti artists? Do we bring back all those barbaric medieval methods of execution? We should be better than the middle east. We should be better than the criminal element.

seriously? you have to ask that? i say we'd start with actually executing criminals that have that sentence and bringing back some 'cruel and unusual' punishments for other crimes.

stockades in the town square sounds good for starters. there are ton of things that are simply insanely humiliating that have been termed 'cruel and unusual'

At least stockades don't result in the painful death of a person. Anything after that, I'm afraid we're in disagreement, and I'm glad I don't live in an America that does behead people or has them burned at the stake or torn apart by wild horses.

And yes, I do have to ask these questions. That's my job. Since I've freed my brain from religion, I've become a radical free thinker, and humanism is part of the equation.

Don't need any of that.

Sentenced to life without parole?

What's the point of that?

Bullet to the head and call it a day.

No muss, no fuss.

__________________
Support The Special Operations Warrior Foundation

Democrat Values: Jail for People Who Don't Buy Insurance, Citizenship for Border Jumpers

Political Correctness Will Be The Death Of Us All

Pray For Obama, Psalm 109:8 "Let his days be few; and let another take office."

Nothing wrong with that. Except government sponsored bullets are expensive.