Cruel and Unusual/Inhumane Punishment: Thoughts?

Inhumane: lacking and reflecting lack of pity or compassion; "humans are innately inhumane; this explains much of the misery and suffering in the world. - Princeton

Cruel and unusual punishment is a statement implying that governments shall not inflict suffering or humiliation on the condemned as punishment for crimes, regardless of their degree of severity.- Wikipedia

Category:

Education

Tags:

• punishment
• death penalty
• torture
• abuse
• government
• criminal
• jasperavi
• murder
• capital punishment
• cruel and unusual
• inhumane

[AshaVahista]

One involves continued physical pain (torture, deprivation, etc) while one only involves removal from society. That is why I would say that imprisonment is "more humane" than outright infliction of harm. There's a vast difference between restricting someone's life to a cell and making the remainder of someone's life filled with agony.

[JasperAvi]

@AshaVahista There is no emotional agony and torment in locking them in a cell?? All modern studies in sociology and psychology find serious detriments to both physical and mental health.

[ReligionInTheBin]

Being forced to spend an eternity with creationists and pompous self righteous hypocrites is highly inhumane.. !

[trick0171]

Though locking them away may be a necessary mistreatment, other things that happen in prison are unnecessary misteatments. Those should be the focus.

Thanks,

'trick

[trick0171]

I do think that there needs to be a change in mindset regarding why a person is in prison. It should be about rehabilitation as much as possible. For those cases in which we cannot rehabilitate, we must lock up for life, and for those cases in which the person is too much of a danger even within the prison environment, the death penalty may be necessary. Regardless, they must be understood and treated as a mental disorder. (MORE)

[trick0171]

Just because the line is arbitrary does not mean that the degrees are arbitrary. Take animal cruelity for example, I think we can fairly conclude degrees of suffering imposed. For example, we can understand the difference between locking an animal up in a free range farm where it has room compared to a factory small box where it cannot move or turn around. Though each may be a degree of cruelity, one is obviously more cruel. (MORE)

[trick0171]

There is always a level of mistreating, but I think there are fairly objective degrees of inhumanity (ie. pulling out someones fingernails imposes a different degree of suffering than locking them up and giving them food and water). Where we draw the line is arbitrary, what is important is that it is an agreed upon arbitrary line by the vast majority. (MORE)

[RobTheMonk8]

Comb your hair, Jasper! It may not be cruel but it's certainly unusual.

As far as the topic goes, I've always thought the term unusual was a bizarre thing to include. And yes; the choice of our punishments seems irretrievably arbitrary except where we confine people for the purpose of inhibiting their ability to repeat an offense... confinement, in those cases, seems only too appropriate. What's your take on the role retributive justice should play?

[randomsonnet]

This is a good point. Just remember that the statement is quite old, "cruel and unusual" by 19th century standards is a little different from any modern take on the statement.

If you changed the statement a little to "unusually cruel" then it would make far more sense as well.

[DarknessEats]

well, it is supposed to be a punishment

[Zhaan4ever]

Im suggesting my pet has a larger and nicer living space than prisoners. It ercs me that prisoners have cable but I also understand that if we took tv away then they would get restless and perhaps cause trouble. thats what happens when you lock people in 8 by ? rooms for 23 hours a day.