The death penalty makes no sense.

[The Valkyrie]

This.

There are certain crimes, as far as I'm concerned, that are worthy of removal from the planet.

Serial killers.
Terrorists who commit a terrorist act.
Serial rapists.
Serial kiddie fiddlers.
Anyone who commits a murder that results in the prolonged suffering of the victim.
And others...

BUT...

...ther must be absolutely no doubt (and such cases do exist).

If you're not going to have the death penalty then the other penalties need to reflect the severity of the crime.  Life should mean life, not out in ten or twenty years.

If you deliberately murder someone then your prison sentence should result in you leaving in a box.

It seems often that laws are all about the rights of the criminal and not the rights of the victims or their families.

I could rant a lot more but I'll stop here..

I can see an argument for murderers, according to lex talionalis, but rapists?  That seems to run afoul of the cruel and inhuman punishment constraint, and I don't see a way to ethically recommend it.  If you're arguing simply that you would find it emotionally satisfying, that's something else.  As with Amanda, I have the same question about it's rationality and ethicality.  A commonly given example is the man who catches someone raping his daughter, and beats the rapist to death with a baseball bat.  His actions are certainly understandable, and we can empathize with him emotionally, yet at the same time not be willing to endorse his beating the rapist to death as either legal, or an ethically justifiable response to the crime of rape.  I take it Amanda has quit the thread, but I'd have to ask the same question of her that I ask of you.  Is your stance towards serial rapists and kiddie fiddlers an emotional one, like that of the father with the baseball bat, or is it a calmly reasoned response?

---

Should they be treated any differently than the dogs?

Why?

Yes, they should. And if you have to ask why, then I question your humanity.

1. I'm talking serial rapists. But I'm open to alternatives. Like life in prison.

2. Question away. The difference is that the humans will get a trial and years of appeals while the dogs won't. But I don't see that the end result should be any different.