Has he been sentenced to death? No? Then a de facto death penalty is not in order.
Methinks a significant stint in prison, probable inability to hold any form of employment better paying than flipping burgers (if the UK's sex offender list policy is anything like the US's), and infection with a life-changing disease is punishment enough. While I'm not shilling for this guy, I'd rather that he be rehabbed and turned into a tolerable member of society than be sentenced to a torturous death via HIV.
I think the idea behind providing medical treatment to prisoners on death row can be justified by explaining that when sentenced to die, they can only be killed by the methods prescribed by law. So even though the end result would be the same, it would be considered murder to kill an inmate in a non-sanctioned way.
While I agree it would be quite poetic to let him die from HIV, he was not sentenced to die, and we must legally do our sincere best to keep him alive.
Broomstick wrote:Even the US provides medical care to inmates on death row.
To the point where sick people have deliberately committed crimes in order to land themselves in prison and get the medical care they otherwise couldn't pay for.
Broomstick wrote:Even the US provides medical care to inmates on death row.
To the point where sick people have deliberately committed crimes in order to land themselves in prison and get the medical care they otherwise couldn't pay for.
That's not a criticism of providing care to people in prison; it's a criticism of how badly we treat people who aren't in prison.
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
Broomstick wrote:Even the US provides medical care to inmates on death row.
To the point where sick people have deliberately committed crimes in order to land themselves in prison and get the medical care they otherwise couldn't pay for.
That's not a criticism of providing care to people in prison; it's a criticism of how badly we treat people who aren't in prison.
As am I. A US citizen can get some of the best health care, education and work experience systems in the nation, and all you have to do is commit a crime and become part of corporate prison slave labor force.
Never underestimate the ingenuity and cruelty of the Irish.
And, of course, be viewed with perpetual suspicion by employers and for that matter everyone else, as an ex-con.
Still, it's very frustrating that we know how to do these things for prisoners, but cannot do them for normal people because that would be a catastrophic breakdown of Rugged Individualism.
Simon_Jester wrote:And, of course, be viewed with perpetual suspicion by employers and for that matter everyone else, as an ex-con.
Still, it's very frustrating that we know how to do these things for prisoners, but cannot do them for normal people because that would be a catastrophic breakdown of Rugged Individualism.
Uhmurrica
Never underestimate the ingenuity and cruelty of the Irish.
I'd say that's yet another argument in favour of free healthcare. In the case of the guy in the OP, until he knows one way or another (and assuming the result becomes public) all we're doing is engaging in speculation. That said, there must be other cases where a rapist picks up a disease from a victim (or worse, the other way round). That's a whole other can of worms right there.
