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whichwaytogo47
Guest
How do we make sure that prisoners whom are truly guilty of their crimes with premeditation serve life without the possibility of parole in solitary confinement if necessary.
CCC 2267 Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm – without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself – the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.”68.
But these days that situation is “very rare, if not practically non-existent!” I agree. But this would show that capital punishment is NOT an intrinsic evil. Why? If capital punishment were an intrinsic evil, the Catechism would say something like “ this act is never acceptable under any circumstances and at all times when this was regrettably carried out it was sinful.” But the Catechism doesn’t say anything like that. Well these days there is no situation that could possibly fulfill societal self-defense criteria for a serious criminal right? That is debatable. Let’s say in the depths of Nigeria with “bamboo jail bars” marauders can easily escape to do harm again. That society might find capital punishment their only protection. And in America even with life sentences we have seen many times probation committees and judges erroneously release dangerous criminals only to murder again. Even when kept in jail murderers have often murdered again in this country within the confines of imprisonment itself (prisoners murdering other prisoners or even prison employees for example). But the point here isn’t if we NEED capital punishment or not. The point here is that capital punishment, as taught by the Catholic Church DOES NOT REPRESENT AN INTRINSIC EVIL! That is the point. Any contrary claim is a misrepresentation of the Church’s teachings.
CCC 2267 Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm – without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself – the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.”68.
But these days that situation is “very rare, if not practically non-existent!” I agree. But this would show that capital punishment is NOT an intrinsic evil. Why? If capital punishment were an intrinsic evil, the Catechism would say something like “ this act is never acceptable under any circumstances and at all times when this was regrettably carried out it was sinful.” But the Catechism doesn’t say anything like that. Well these days there is no situation that could possibly fulfill societal self-defense criteria for a serious criminal right? That is debatable. Let’s say in the depths of Nigeria with “bamboo jail bars” marauders can easily escape to do harm again. That society might find capital punishment their only protection. And in America even with life sentences we have seen many times probation committees and judges erroneously release dangerous criminals only to murder again. Even when kept in jail murderers have often murdered again in this country within the confines of imprisonment itself (prisoners murdering other prisoners or even prison employees for example). But the point here isn’t if we NEED capital punishment or not. The point here is that capital punishment, as taught by the Catholic Church DOES NOT REPRESENT AN INTRINSIC EVIL! That is the point. Any contrary claim is a misrepresentation of the Church’s teachings.
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