Rapists

[DeistPaladin]

I think they should be castrated. Or maybe turned into eunuchs. I know that rape is more about domination than getting sexual pleasure, but I think getting rid of the testosterone would help diminish repeat offenses. Sexual lust must play some part of it, or they'd dominate people through easier methods.

I would agree but for the prospect of the innocent who are wrongfully convicted.

I remember one case where a woman was raped and the guy they at first charged with the crime looked almost identical to the guy who later confessed to the crime. I can't fault the woman for fingering the wrong guy, given how much he and the actual perp looked alike.

It's the same reason I oppose the death penalty. You can release an innocent man from jail and clear his name. However, you can't give him his life or his genitals back if they turn out to be wrongfully taken.

Actually reading the article, it seems like he just took advantage of someone who was drunk. That's a little differnt than forcing yourself on someone, unless he was the one who got her drunk just so he could rape her.

The who issue with alcohol and consent is where I see some gray area. Different states draw the line differently as to what level of intoxication makes a woman unable to give consent. I remember when I attended a crime awareness seminar while I was in DC, the law as written was passed around. I was surprised to find that ANY alcohol in her system rendered her unable to give consent. After one drink, she can still legally operate a motor vehicle but can't have legal sex?

The gray area also lies in how different people respond differently to alcohol. I used to be a heavy partier in my college days and had a much higher tolerance. These days that I don't drink anymore, if I do have one beer I'm almost three sheets to the wind. Additionally, when I did drink in college to excess, sober people would have trouble knowing it by looking at me. I'm a very quiet and mellow drunk, it would seem. If a woman you hook up with at a party has a similar demeanor while drunk, is it possible you might have sex with her and not realize she's over the legal limit?

At the same time, I do realize why these laws are on the books. If she's truly incapacitated or incoherent from drugs or alcohol, she should be legally protected from those who would take advantage of it. And some might be more sensitive to the effects of alcohol where even low blood alcohol levels might have this effect. Also, my concerns in the paragraphs above are probably academic. I've had four different women confide in me that they are survivors of rape and not one of them ever sought justice or pressed charges. I can't imagine a woman actually going through all of that in our court system just to make a false accusation.

---

...just to add to my post, one shouldn't criticize an idea without proposing an alternative.

Instead of castration, I advocate a minimum 20 year prison sentence for each rape. You can always release an innocent man from jail, if we later find out some other guy did it. The minimum sentence for pedophilia should be life with no chance for parole, ever. No pedophile should ever be released from prison under any circumstances.