jamcmullan@watmath.UUCP (Judy McMullan) (01/31/84)
>Regarding the case of the man convicted of rape and sentenced only >to a regular dosage of a hormone-reducing drug, the defense attorney said >something like this: > >Normal people don't do this. Therefore he [the defendant] has some- > >thing wrong with him. Therefore society should treat his illness. >Am I to infer from this that we should only give criminals the >appropriate drug to eliminate their violent behavior, then set them free? >There has be a personal price to pay for this and other criminal acts. >People who rape should pay for it. Giving them drugs for their crime is >a reward, not a punishment. I agree. I would go further and state that there has to be a distinction made between emotions (eg. anger, frustration) and the socially appropriate way to deal with those emotions. A man who feels aggressive towards women (because of an excess of testosterone) is better off playing hockey to get some of the physical feelings out of his system, then going home and masturbating to get the sexual feelings settled down. Raping someone he doesn't (or more often does!) know is not the way to deal with his emotions, whether they are caused by normal OR excess hormones. Convicted criminals should still have to undergo the punishment for their crimes. --from the sssstickkky keyboard of J.A.M. ...!{allegra|decvax}!watmath!jamcmullan