How do you punish someone who wants to be dead? A man in California apparently decided to commit suicide by parking his SUV on the train tracks. He changed his mind at the last minute and got out, but his car was still there when the train arrived, and the derailment killed at least 10 people. The news stories report he will be charged with homicide.
I don't doubt it was a horrible, and, as suicide so often is, a terribly selfish act. After he is convicted, as seems inevitable, I wonder: what will his punishment be? Many people would probably say he should get the "worst" possible punishment there is -- the death penalty. But in his case, it seems like that would mean the state would be giving him exactly what he wanted. Not really much of a punishment, is it?
At the risk of biting off more than I can chew in a mere blog entry, I'll venture to add that this situation highlights one of the reasons I have difficulty with the concept of the death penalty. Frankly, I think death isn't much of a punishment for the most heinous criminals. It's more of a punishment for their families then it is for them. Afterall, they'll be dead, so they won't be suffering. That is, if punishment is one of the goals of the criminal justice system. In many cases, I think hard core restitution is a much worse punishment. I honestly think that so-called "cruel and unusual punishment" is underrated. We need to get much more creative than prison or capital punishment.
Posted by ldfs at January 26, 2005 3:57 PM | TrackBack