Saudi judge looks into severing the spinal cord of a criminal

[MillCreek]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38799106/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/


My goodness.  Using the ancient precept of an eye for an eye, a Saudi judge is asking hospitals to intentionally damage the spinal cord of a criminal who caused paralysis in his victim.  I wonder if any healthcare facility in the Kingdom will perform the surgery. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

how evil am i for not being totally against this?

[PTK]

how evil am i for not being totally against this?

Extremely, as if you needed an answer.

[vaskidmark]

Extremely, as if you needed an answer.

Why?

Their culture is different.  They have historically indicated they have no interest in adapting to/adopting our cultural norms or values.

Or would you also consider yourself evil for even wanting to have them adopt our culture/values - let alone imposing those on the Saud?

stay safe.

[RevDisk]

how evil am i for not being totally against this?

I dunno.  I think we're supposed to be shocked and offended for some reason.

[BridgeRunner]

I dunno.  I think we're supposed to be shocked and offended for some reason.

I think it would be a shocking waste of money, personally. 

I'm not on board with the kind of punishment generally, but I'm slightly more concerned about other nifty things the Saudis do to people who aren't criminals.

[PTK]

vaskidmark, you missed my sarcasm. RevDisk caught it. :)

[Perd Hapley]

I dunno.  I think we're supposed to be shocked and offended for some reason.

Well, if RevDisk is against it, I'm for it. 

[seeker_two]

Why not use a 20lb sledgehammer? Cheap, quick, simple enough that a Shariah lawman can figure it out...

[Firethorn]

Why not use a 20lb sledgehammer? Cheap, quick, simple enough that a Shariah lawman can figure it out...

Bigger chance of doing more damage than the court decides is appropriate...

They are not necessarily unsophisticated, it's just on a different path than our own.

My reactions to the article -

1.  It mentions a 'fight', personally I tend to associate that with mutual combat, and in mutual combat I think that you should suffer what you suffer.
2.  The victim is requesting this punishment, and as I understand their justice system, it places a LOT of weight on what the victim asks for.

If the man they're proposing doing this to was the attacker and the other man only defending himself, then I can understand.  If it was a 'mutual' thing, then not so much.  I still favor making the intact man work for supporting the crippled one, but who knows.

[Nitrogen]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38799106/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/


My goodness.  Using the ancient precept of an eye for an eye, a Saudi judge is asking hospitals to intentionally damage the spinal cord of a criminal who caused paralysis in his victim.  I wonder if any healthcare facility in the Kingdom will perform the surgery. 

I am not surprised.  Saudis are animals.

[Tallpine]

Why not use a 20lb sledgehammer? Cheap, quick, simple enough that a Shariah lawman can figure it out...

Rope
Gravity
Sudden stop

That's how we used to do it 

[RaspberrySurprise]

I am not surprised.  Saudis are animals.

Bit of a broad brush there don't you think?

[Nitrogen]

Bit of a broad brush there don't you think?

It's a generalization, yes  I'm sure like anywhere else, there are people that don't fit it.  I stand by it, though.

I'm not one of these people that feels I have to accept everyone else's culture.  I think their culture is disgusting.

[MechAg94]

Rope
Gravity
Sudden stop

That's how we used to do it 

Yeah, at some point, just stop messing around and do it. 

[KD5NRH]

If his victim didn't get the benefit of a carefully controlled surgical procedure, why can't they save some money and just use a hammer on him?

[RaspberrySurprise]

If his victim didn't get the benefit of a carefully controlled surgical procedure, why can't they save some money and just use a hammer on him?

Because in society we are supposed to be better than the criminals.

[taurusowner]

Because in society we are supposed to be better than the criminals.

And we get to decide what "better" is.  Not doing this to an innocent person is being better than the criminal.  Doing it to a guilty person is justice.

[Nitrogen]

And we get to decide what "better" is.  Not doing this to an innocent person is being better than the criminal.  Doing it to a guilty person is justice.

How good do you think their investigative system is? 
You think it's anywhere approaching as good as ours, that values people's rights at all?

[taurusowner]

I'm speaking generally.  The idea that we aren't supposed to do anything bad to criminals because it somehow makes us like them is hogwash.  I've never bought that idea about the death penalty either.  The old argument that if we kill someone, we're no better than a murderer.  It's BS.  Of course we're better.  Their victims were innocent, the murderer is not.  That makes us better period.

Having law and principles is one of the best accomplishments in human history.  But if it becomes a suicide pact, it's gone too far.

[seeker_two]

Because in society we are supposed to be better than the criminals.

I'm sure Barney Frank, Marion Berry, and Sheila Jackson-Lee agree with that statement... 

[roo_ster]

Bit of a broad brush there don't you think?

It's a generalization, yes  I'm sure like anywhere else, there are people that don't fit it.  I stand by it, though.

I'm not one of these people that feels I have to accept everyone else's culture.  I think their culture is disgusting.

If WE get the government WE deserve, THEY get the government THEY deserve.

[Racehorse]

Although I'm probably in the minority, I think a punishment like this is disgusting. The prohibitions in our own Constitution on cruel and unusual punishment are there for a reason.

The wikipedia article on the 8th amendment sums up the rationale against this type of punishment pretty well.

[charby]

If WE get the government WE deserve, THEY get the government THEY deserve.

I concur

[zahc]

Maybe I'm strange, but I really get no gratification at all from the thought of torturing criminals. I really do think that if I/'we' do that, it does bring us to a lower moral level.

I think a .45 to the temple, soon, is what appeals to me in cases like this. I have no desire to torture even the worst criminals, anymore than I have a desire to torture animals that are eating my garden or a dog that bit a family member. They just need killin'.