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analog · 11-01-2006, 03:19 PM

Incarceration IS revenge. It is the state-sponsered and judicially approved form of revenge for crimes in modern society.

In the past, if someone was convicted of murder, a common sentence was hanging. I doubt many would argue against the basic core of such a sentence being revenge, retribution, whatever you want to call it.

You do x crime, and x happens to you as a result. The defining line between where it goes from a "sentence" to "revenge", is the emotion of the person carrying it out. If a man is sentenced and put to death because he beats, rapes, and kills a busload of female middle schoolers, that is "his sentence"- if he steps off of the bus, and a man nearby dispatches him forthwith, shotgun-to-the-face style, that is revenge (though it would surely be seen as justice to many, many people). This is a farce of a distinction.

Regardless of the fact that prison is "officially" supposed to be for rehabilitation- how many actually see it that way, use it that way, and feel that it's enough, especially in cases like this?

11-01-2006, 03:19 PM	#26 (permalink)
analog Banned	Incarceration IS revenge. It is the state-sponsered and judicially approved form of revenge for crimes in modern society. In the past, if someone was convicted of murder, a common sentence was hanging. I doubt many would argue against the basic core of such a sentence being revenge, retribution, whatever you want to call it. You do x crime, and x happens to you as a result. The defining line between where it goes from a "sentence" to "revenge", is the emotion of the person carrying it out. If a man is sentenced and put to death because he beats, rapes, and kills a busload of female middle schoolers, that is "his sentence"- if he steps off of the bus, and a man nearby dispatches him forthwith, shotgun-to-the-face style, that is revenge (though it would surely be seen as justice to many, many people). This is a farce of a distinction. Regardless of the fact that prison is "officially" supposed to be for rehabilitation- how many actually see it that way, use it that way, and feel that it's enough, especially in cases like this? Last edited by analog; 11-01-2006 at 03:21 PM..