I agree with Bint- setting aside
any group of human beings as being subhuman and worthy of execution/torture/etc. is a slippery slope. And like callaway is pointing out, proving guilt "beyond a shadow of a doubt" isn't actually all that common.
I agree that rapists and child abusers are a sickening lot. Prison isn't a fun place to be for anyone, and especially not for pedophiles.
If we want to get into the 'save money by having less prisoners in prison' debate, how about we start by legalizing, taxing and regulating all drugs that are currently illicit (but are widely used ANYWAY). It's perhaps a tangential topic but a more more practical one in terms of improving society as well as saving money. Prisons should, IMO, be for people who have violated the safety and rights of others, such as rapists and murderers.
As for the rape vs. murder argument, I was talking about this a week or so ago, oddly enough. My opinion is that both are evil, horrible things, but one irrevocably ends a life, while the other does not. Don't underestimate the resiliency of the human spirit. People
can heal and recover from being raped, although it is, I would assume, usually a long and painful process. You can't recover from being murdered. I think it's also a little fucked up that there's an implicit message in the "rape is worse than murder" argument that most rape victims would be better off dead.
I guess those who are so fucked in the head they have no control over their actions are pretty much screwed when it comes to life
True.