Saturday, April 23, 2011

LAW vs EMOTION, JUSTICE vs VENGEANCE

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/23/ny-taxpayers-pay-big-heart-transplant-convicted-rapist/?test=latestnews

This link is to an emotion-laden article in the Fox "News" on-line tabloid but reflects thinking which extends far beyond the tabloid mentality.



Look at this exceptionally wicked crime, and now the perpetrator is about to get an expensive medical procedure at taxpayer expense! (Insert gasps, gags, and cries of despair)



Our much-vaunted "justice" system is supposed to be a rule of law rather than rule of mob-mentality or popularity poll. We take men and women out of our general population and incarcerate them when they are convicted of crimes. The crimes are stipulated and the punishment outlined in L-A-W which supposedly is what we're all about.



It is a well-established legal position that incarcerated persons are still human and still have the right to medical care and that care is to be at the "community standard"--that is to say, we do not have inmates treated by veterinarians or shamans.



The questions which arise when sensational cases like this appear are disturbing:



Shall we admit, as a nation, that our heart is indeed so depraved that we would rejoice in seeing offenders locked up without any medical care?....."let 'em die like dogs!" Maybe we could quit feeding them, too?



Suppose this case involved: a woman, not a man? a woman who shot an abusive husband, for example (or something which inspires some sympathy....)? The volume of protests would be much lower, I'm sure. So, maybe for some crimes, for some offenders, the sentence ought to include "no medical care, no food, and no television for 40 years" ?



And, let me include this thought: I'd be happy to see laws changed to include the possibility of the death penalty for such crimes as this guy did....I have no sympathy for him, but I would like to see us obey the law, respect it as the Law, all the while we are bemoaning his law breaking.



Maybe we should take a poll. That's how much policy is determined these days. I wonder what portion of our population would be content to simply execute all felons upon conviction? No muss, no fuss....Guilty! Take him out and shoot him. No more overcrowded prisons, no more escapes, no more medical care for perverts,



The fact is that the State takes on a great responsibility in instituting a legal system such as we have. It does allow that convicted criminals are still human and have human rights. Supporting that highly moral legal code is an expensive project. I think our culture is disintegrating rapidly and that this is questioned at all is an indicator of how sick a society we are.