Reply #1: America's puritan obsession with punishment continues to drive politics...

[mike_c]

...and public discourse.

We need to take a long step back from the edge when we begin talking about life-time punishment for just about anything without the possibility of rehab or redemption.

All the folks who chime in to say that child molesters should be tortured to death, imprisoned for life, or whatever will simply prove my point. The American obsession with punishment-- three strikes laws, get tough on crime, whatever-- is completely irrational. It has NEVER demonstrably reduced crime. It's just revenge, one of the ugliest of human emotions.

Full disclosure: I was sexually molested by a neighborhood man as a young child. Now, I hope the dude got his jones under control for his sake-- I didn't suffer any lasting damage, and I certainly would not wish for even a day of punishment for him, let alone a lifetime. That is just insane.