toldailytopic: Should being diagnosed insane excuse capital punishment?

Town Heretic

Out of Order
Hall of Fame
A person that murders needs to be put do death.
An insane person that murders needs to be put to death.

An insane person that doesn't murder is not the topic of the thread.

Should an insane person be held to a contract he signs without understanding? Should a child? Should a child, who lacks capacity for a dissimilar reason be put to death for killing another or held to contract he scribbles his mark over?

Capacity is important or we're saying an act itself is inherently evil and punishable and everyone who then commits that act, whatever their motivation, should be punished accordingly.
 

genuineoriginal

New member
I like how you claim this is the "only rational way", yet this statement is anything but rational. If the offender is suffering from severe delusions that caused his actions, then he did not possess the agency that criminal justice requires. You are in effect saying that we should kill sick people. In the end your statement amounts to saying "kill a sick person because it is convenient economically speaking".

Are you insane?
I am saying we should apply the death penalty to murderers.
We shouldn't be trying to "cure" murderers of a mental illness.
We should put murderers to death.
 

Granite

New member
Hall of Fame
Are you insane?
I am saying we should apply the death penalty to murderers.
We shouldn't be trying to "cure" murderers of a mental illness.
We should put murderers to death.

It's obvious to everyone exactly what you're saying, which may account for some of the flak you're getting.
 

genuineoriginal

New member
Executing someone who is incapable of understanding their actions--let alone understanding themselves--is nothing more than blood-lusting vindictiveness, nothing more. There is no moral lesson to be had, no justice meted...if anything, the only lesson to be learned in that scenario is that a society callous enough to simply kill its mentally ill isn't much of a society worth saving.
Moral lesson: don't murder or you will be put to death.
Justice: the murderer of the 77 people is put to death.
 

Granite

New member
Hall of Fame
Moral lesson: don't murder or you will be put to death.
Justice: the murderer of the 77 people is put to death.

That's not really the point or lesson here at all. That's not what anyone here is talking about. And if you'd taken the time to actually read through the thread, as opposed to repeating yourself, you'd know better.

Try to stay on topic for a change.
 

Selaphiel

Well-known member
Are you insane?
I am saying we should apply the death penalty to murderers.
We shouldn't be trying to "cure" murderers of a mental illness.
We should put murderers to death.

If it can be established that the offender did the act due to suffering from severe mental delusions due to mental illness, then you are in effect killing a person because of his or her illness. In such cases, the murders happened because of the illness, not because of their own agency. Instead of curing the cause of the murder, you want to kill the person who is ill. That is nothing but vengeful bloodlust, you want your pound of flesh regardless what actually caused the incident. What you call for is not justice, it is vengeance.
 

genuineoriginal

New member
How do you apply a 'moral lesson' to someone incapable of understanding what morals even are? :hammer:
How did the notion get into your pea brain that you can teach someone a lesson by putting them to death?

The moral lesson is not for the person put to death, it is for everyone else.
 

genuineoriginal

New member
That's not really the point or lesson here at all. That's not what anyone here is talking about. And if you'd taken the time to actually read through the thread, as opposed to repeating yourself, you'd know better.

Try to stay on topic for a change.

So, you think justice is served by NOT putting a murder to death?
:loser:
 

genuineoriginal

New member
If it can be established that the offender did the act due to suffering from severe mental delusions due to mental illness, then you are in effect killing a person because of his or her illness.
No, the person is put to death for his actions, regardless of the reason.
 

Granite

New member
Hall of Fame
So, you think justice is served by NOT putting a murder to death?
:loser:

Why don't you catch up and actually read what I've posted on this thread, you clueless nincompoop?

As it is you're getting it with both barrels from me and a few others so you have a lot of catching up to do.
 

PureX

Well-known member
The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for November 29th, 2011 09:31 AM


toldailytopic: Should being diagnosed insane excuse capital punishment?

Yes, for two reasons.

1. Many forms of insanity are not permanent. They can be treated and the individual rehabilitated.

2. The criteria for an insanity verdict in a murder case requires that the killer was not able to understand the seriousness of the crime, or was not mentally able to stop himself from committing the crime. And by definition this would be manslaughter, not murder.

Capital punishment should be reserved for those people who not only commit murder, but can reasonably be expected to do so again if they have the opportunity. In such instances society should not have to accept that risk.

Note: I do not view the function of the criminal justice system to be "punishment". I view the function of the criminal justice system to be to protect society from people who commit criminal acts.
 

Selaphiel

Well-known member
No, the person is put to death for his actions, regardless of the reason.

What does this achieve? These offenders could not help themselves because they are SICK. Killing them achieves nothing except adding another body. In theory, if they are cured of their illness, they are no longer a threat. If they are not cured, they are kept in a secure psychiatric institution. So in the end, killing them is just serving our own bloodlust as if that will change ANYTHING. Criminal justice assumes agency, otherwise the assigning of blame is meaningless.
 

Arthur Brain

Well-known member
How did the notion get into your pea brain that you can teach someone a lesson by putting them to death?

The moral lesson is not for the person put to death, it is for everyone else.

How is it escaping your "pea brain" that there's no 'moral lesson' in applying the exact same penalty to those who are severely mentally ill as those who act in full possession of their faculties?
 
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