Kill the Killer

'The easiest thing is to kill the killer ', once I have read this sentence in one article, about the man who raped and killed a very young girl. She was a child, and he was a monster, so many people were thingking that the only right thing that society can do is to kill him.

And, that really is the easiest thing that society can do.

But, what comes later?

First of all I have to say that people who are ready to do those horrible things to a child will probbably do them again if they get another chance, and because of that society have to pay attention to those people, society, and when I say saociety I mean all of us, should do something . That other chnace for those people to do horrible things should not exist.

But is the solution really to kill them?

I am living in Serbia and most strict penalty here is life sentence. A person can be sentenced to life in prison, but cannot be sentenced to death. The most important validity in our legal system is life of a human being. So, if the state is protecting human lives from other human beings, should she protect them from herself too?

I am trying to say, if the state is punishing killers, how can she sentence someone to death?

And, what is maybe even more important, is death really a punishment?

I mean, a dead person does not know that she is dead? Dead man cannot suffer because of death. Only people, who loved dead person are suffering, does that mean that when someone is sentenced to death, actually people who love that person are sentenced?

Here in Serbia, last couple years we have a lifetime prison as the most strict punishment that a person can get for the most terrible crimes, and before that one we had long time jail. This punismeht includes 30-40 years in prison, with a possibiluty to get our earlier, if the person behaves well in prison. (For example if someone is sentenced to 30 years,m he can get out after 20, after 2/3 are served.)

Now, a person sentenced to life in prison can get our after 27 years if he or she behaves well.

What does that mean, to behave well?

How someone, who raped and killed a child can behave well?

Will he become a better person? Probabbly no. Never.

The main goal of every signle punishemnt is to make a person stop commiting crimes, to make person accept value system of the soicey and start a life over, as a 'normal' member of the society.

Will someone, who killed a child, really get a chance to be the member of society, even if he or she get out of prison?

Wil society accept that kind of a person? Is that kind of a person really capable to live normal?

Those questions are really hard to give answer to. They are very complicated and you can think a lot about them, but no matter which answer you give there will always be some pros and cons.

For example, if you kill someone, who did something horrible, he will never do it again, and people around him will be no longer afraid. But, on the other hand 'monster' will not be able to suffer, becaus ehe will be dead, that means that we are actually punishing people who love him.

And, if you sentence that person to life in prison, he will have a chnace to get out, and also he cna be desperate and he can hurt other people in prison thanks to that.

Thare are always pros and cons, and it seems that we can never know what is really the good solution, we can find the best one that we can find, but only because it is the best that we have, does that meand that it is really good?

I would really love to read your opinion about this complicated topic.

I do not have the soultion, and I cannot say what is good and what is not. I would just love to see that this problem got really good solution in the future.