What would be the best way to punish criminals?

[Dicecaster]

What topic?

[roquefort]

I'm getting the impression that quite a few people on this thread might have been wondering why we hunted down Saddam Hussein instead if hiring him as a well-paid consultant.. :rolleyes:

 

Hosni Mubarek's probably available if the offer was made though.

[ginnyfizz]

I'm getting the impression that quite a few people on this thread might have been wondering why we hunted down Saddam Hussein instead if hiring him as a well-paid consultant.. :rolleyes:

 

Hosni Mubarek's probably available if the offer was made though.

 

 

So your idea for the best way to punish criminals is...what exactly? It is not helpful to the debate to suggest that any of your fellow forum members would even dream of associating themselves with the policies and methods of such dictators. RZ1029 has already said that his "Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.'type statement was very much tongue in cheek. I have seen plenty of sound argument from those who I suspect you refer to in the above, quoting historical precedent and the likes of that towering intellectual and man of principle (although, despite being Catholic myself I deplore his involvement in the burning of so-called heretics) St Thomas More, in support of the ideal that the rule of law should prevail. And that, moreover, the law should exercise mercy and justice, and judgment.

 

"better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer" has been the cry down the centuries from Abraham, through Maimonides, right down to William Blackstone and Benjamin Franklin. And it seems to me that view is very well represented here.

[SpellAndShield]

Amputation and Decapitation.

[Aurielius]

I'm getting the impression that quite a few people on this thread might have been wondering why we hunted down Saddam Hussein instead if hiring him as a well-paid consultant.. :rolleyes:

 

Hosni Mubarek's probably available if the offer was made though.

@roquefort

I assume by this form of logic then, when the allies closed in on Berlin we should have put them all on retainer instead of trials at Nuremberg? Personally each horrific dictator removed from the world stage is one more step in the direction of sanity for the world. I can only assume that this is an 'attempt' at being drolly humorous.

 

@Ginny

I am sorry to disagree with you my friend but if you parse RZ1029's answer to my post he is not being tongue in cheek, which is unfortunate. Dark humor I can appreciate, but I think he is serious which is quite frightening.

 

Aurielius:

"I presume your post was tongue in cheek? If so, you have a truly dark sense of humor, if not..well prefer not to contemplate that.'

 

RZ1029:

"It wasn't. I do, and you should."

[JimboUK]

Amputation and Decapitation.

 

This has the same problem as the death penalty. What happens when someone is wrongly convicted? you can't really sow their appendages back on and send them on their merry way.

[SilverDNA]

Amputation and Decapitation.

Inadequate.... it violates the human rights and would give the criminals the accessible right for the UN disability treaty.

[ginnyfizz]

I am sorry to disagree with you my friend but if you parse RZ1029's answer to my post he is not being tongue in cheek, which is unfortunate. Dark humor I can appreciate, but I think he is serious which is quite frightening.

 

Aurielius:

"I presume your post was tongue in cheek? If so, you have a truly dark sense of humor, if not..well prefer not to contemplate that.'

 

RZ1029:

"It wasn't. I do, and you should."

 

Ooh err...yes in that case, it IS pretty scary. But the principle is the same - I do not see a general tendency for the debaters in this thread to be of the Saddam or Mubarak persuasion, and as such I feel it is unfair to suggest that they are. I have a degree in Law myself and have read many of the works of the great jurists of history. Moreover, my forebears have suffered at the hands of (much worse) dictators. Thus the lessons of general and family history have taught me to fear and oppose such behaviour. Most of my fellow debaters in here have shown themselves to have like minded views. I am therefore interested in seeing roquefort justify his remark.

[marharth]

What topic?

Forgot to put the link sorry...

 

PG 6-10

 

http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/265930-is-it-wrong-to-issue-a-death-penalty/

[RZ1029]

I am sorry to disagree with you my friend but if you parse RZ1029's answer to my post he is not being tongue in cheek, which is unfortunate. Dark humor I can appreciate, but I think he is serious which is quite frightening.

 

Aurielius:

"I presume your post was tongue in cheek? If so, you have a truly dark sense of humor, if not..well prefer not to contemplate that.'

 

RZ1029:

"It wasn't. I do, and you should."

 

Ooh err...yes in that case, it IS pretty scary. <snip, I've got the part I need>

I do not mean that literally, but more along the lines of I would rather a few innocent be punished than a guilty man go free. And I'll stand behind that, even at my own expense, were I the innocent falsely accused. As I said before, I would hope the justice system would be less flawed than it is now, and perhaps attacking various the corruption that is definitely present, if not entirely evident, in the justice systems.