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Question [message #29011]

Tue, 07 March 2006 09:38

JFR

On fire!

Location: Israel
Registered: October 2004
Messages: 1367

I ask the following questions here not because they are our usual topic but because I value your input, which in most cases is thoughtful and sage.

Imagine that a man is serving a life sentence (with no possibility of remission or parole) because he committed the most heinous crime in his country's history. This man was unmarried when he began his sentence.

Would you approve any of the following? -

Would you permit him to marry a woman who wants to marry him?
Would you permit them to cohabit in prison?
Would you permit him to donate his semen for artificial insemination of his wife?
If a child is born to this couple would you permit the child to visit the father?

(This is not an imaginary situation. The prisoner is being held in solitary confinement and is under constant surveillance. His fate is also charged with great political meaning in his country.)

I think these questions are important for defining the ethics of the extent of the clash between the demands of penalty for a very serious crime and basic human rights.

Your thoughts please.

The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)

		Question By: JFR on Tue, 07 March 2006 09:38
		Re: Question By: NW on Tue, 07 March 2006 10:13
		Re: Question By: marc on Tue, 07 March 2006 10:49
		Re: Question By: timmy on Tue, 07 March 2006 11:18
		Re: Question By: marc on Tue, 07 March 2006 11:39
		Re: Question By: Guest on Tue, 07 March 2006 12:08
		Re: Question By: Brian1407a on Tue, 07 March 2006 15:14
		Re: Question By: timmy on Tue, 07 March 2006 19:24
		Re: Question By: Deeej on Tue, 07 March 2006 16:18
		Re: Question By: Guest on Tue, 07 March 2006 18:40
		Re: Question By: marc on Tue, 07 March 2006 19:11
		Re: Question By: Deeej on Tue, 07 March 2006 19:32
		Re: Question By: Guest on Tue, 07 March 2006 20:14
		Re: Question By: Guest on Tue, 07 March 2006 20:17
		Re: Question By: Deeej on Tue, 07 March 2006 20:41
		Re: Question By: marc on Tue, 07 March 2006 20:59
		Re: Question By: Deeej on Tue, 07 March 2006 20:39
		Re: Question By: Whitop on Tue, 07 March 2006 21:17
		Revenge or redemption? By: cossie on Wed, 08 March 2006 02:47
		Thank you for your answers By: JFR on Wed, 08 March 2006 06:45

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