The Sleeping Giant wrote:Life without parole for sex offenders? Going to be a lot of innocent people locked up forever.
Sex offenders
found guilty of rape AND murder, yes, life without parole, unless the perpetrator was ruled not responsible for his/her actions due to mental illness. Those
found guilty of rape but not murder, a period of incarceration and treatment such as is available. For
multiple sex offenders who have not committed murder, a period of incarceration and then some form of detention or restrictive measure to reduce the risk of reoffending. Whatever supportive treatment there is should also be made available and probably mandatory.
What exactly do you mean by innocent people, by the way? Do you mean people convicted wrongly, or do you mean that sex offenders are not responsible for their actions? I think the latter would have to be considered on an individual case basis - are their actions a result of an illness, or a compulsion? (And yeah, I said earlier 'life without parole without considering individual cases' but I meant for those who were both a) found guilty of rape AND murder; b) judged to be of sound mind and responsible for their actions. If those criteria are met - automatic life sentence without parole.)
Some people are made bad by bad treatment - is that what Ned Kelly said? I think that's true a lot of the time. And it's terrible, and I don't know what can be done about it because the systems that are meant to care for people are underresourced and understaffed. I was involved with Child Protection services briefly and there's only so much they can do for families at risk, because there are so many who need help. But regardless of upbringing or trauma, people still have to be held accountable for their actions. It's no good, but show me a better alternative.