A Bahamian man who is to be flogged 10 times with a whip and seven years in prison for raping a six-year-old girl is going to appeal the 'flogging'. (The whipping - from a whip made of nine, knotted cords - would come in two sessions spread over two weeks).

(Quote) "Prosecutors had sought a 14-year sentence last month in addition to flogging after Bridgewater pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with the child. The girl was in hospital for more than two weeks after she was raped and left in an abandoned car last year".

Apparently his lawyer has said, ""Seven years was enough under law but the cat-o'-nine tails is harsh and inhumane," Watson said, noting his client has shown remorse". And the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association has denounced it as a "a vicious, obscene and sordid invention by white slave masters" that should be abolished.

(Source and full story: http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en...ticleID=2706196 )

Hmmm. Why do I suspect that what he did to the little girl exceeds 'harsh and inhumane'. And how 'odd' that the man seems content with the 7 year prison sentence but objects to be physically 'mistreated'.

Does anyone feels the 10 lashes apt punishment? And that perhaps some sort of punishment other than simply 'time spent in jail' is sometimes appropriate? Or perhaps feel that any punishment other than being imprisoned is too harsh?

I have no problem with it. But then, I believe in the death penalty too. I does deter crime, the person who is executed will never again commit a crime. I also believe in equal punishment. If you beat someone to death, be beaten to death. If you rape, get raped, but that's likely to happen in prison...

Andrew Bridgewater showed no compassion for this innocent 6yr old Girl,and I see no reason why anybody of sound mind would show any compassion to this Animal.The Judge punished him for his shocking Crime,and in cases like this,the appeal process should be denied.IMHO.Does anybody realize the damage this would inflict on this poor Girl? The only reason Andrew Bridgewater is showing remorse is because he was caught.
If I was the Judge,I would have ordered Castration,because his is sick in the mind,and can't control his urges.Jailed for life,and no chance of ever being released back into the community.He also should be ordered to work hard every day for the rest of his life to help pay for his upkeep in Jail,so less Taxes go to keeping this creep. He wouldn't be still alive if he did this to any of my Grand Children.
I hope this Excellent Topic is not spoiled by the usual Do-Gooders.

I would agree with most, but disagree on some points. Where I agree....

The Death Penalty does indeed deter crime, and I think in our country (America), the process should be quicker, and made public. I also think that certain cases of rape should be punishable by the death penalty. Rape is virtually killing a young woman in my eyes. I totally agree DSTM that no compassion was shown for this child.

I don't believe in an eye-for-an-eye. I respect those that do, but I feel that the person being asked to commit the same act against the offender is placed in a bad position. And DSTM...Castration is a little harsh...and I would fully support the decision to do so. Men like him don't deserve to use their "equipment".
Great question. I don't think its apt punishment...especially if trying to deter future incidences. I know in America, I would like to see more harsh penalties for rapists.

Spread over 2 weeks!! How about a session each week for the duration of his gaol term. At the same hour, on the same day, each and every week so that he really has something to look forward to, then we may just see some real remorse.

A solid dose of chemical castration wouldn't go astray either.

That little girl will never grow up being the happy go lucky kid that she was, and the saddest thing is that she will probably end up riddled with guilt for something that was entirely outside her control.

In addition to the act itself, he has effectively ruined the rest of her life. Physical scars will heal over time, but what about the mental ones?

Does he, in all honesty, expect consideration about anything. Certainly none from yours truly.

Why waste anymore time and energy? Run him through with a sword and let him die. Let the animals eat his corpse. People who perform these actions have forfeited their priveledge of living in our communities.

And that poor little girl. OMG, her innocence ripped from her before she even got to enjoy it!

F*@& it! I'll run him through! The fact that we even deliberate what to do with someone like this blows my mind.

As for the topic at hand... I think public whipping should be used in other cases. In this one, he is too far beyond what a whip can impart. But, for other crimes, this form of punishment may be the ticket. I mean, we have to try something different, what we are doing now isn't working.

And about that crap of racism. It's really amazing that Blacks think they are the only race or community to ever have been enslaved. I am no advocate of slavery in the slightest, but every race has been enslaved at some point. It is so self-righteous to make the claim that whipping someone in public for commiting a crime to the community has anything to do with race. Like the Jews weren't whipped by the Egyptians. Like Native Americans weren't whipped by other tribes when taken prisoner. Like noone was whipped during the Spanish Inquisition.

Oh, I forgot, the whip was invented solely to keep the Black man enslaved.

Really?

I thought that was why the Democratic Party was invented!



ba dum bump!

Edit to remove double post.

That was a good one.


It was actually invented for Indiana Jones to swing over gaps.

I didn't even think about that! Good call jwinathome!

Thanks jwinathome, but -

I believe Zorro actually pre-dates Indiana Jones, doesn't he?

Believe Devo said it best:

Whip it!

Crack that whip
Give the past the slip
Step on a crack
Break your mommas back
When a problem comes along
You must whip it
Before the cream sits out too long
You must whip it
When somethings going wrong
You must whip it

Now whip it
Into shape
Shape it up
Get straight
Go forward
Move ahead
Try to detect it
Its not too late
To whip it
Whip it good

When a good time turns around
You must whip it
You will never live it down
Unless you whip it
No one gets away
Until they whip it

I say whip it
Whip it good
I say whip it
Whip it good

Crack that whip
Give the past the slip
Step on a crack
Break your mommas back
When a problem comes along
You must whip it
Before the cream sits out too long
You must whip it
When somethings going wrong
You must whip it

Now whip it
Into shape
Shape it up
Get straight
Go forward
Move ahead
Try to detect it
Its not too late
To whip it
Into shape
Shape it up
Get straight
Go forward
Move ahead
Try to detect it
Its not too late
To whip it
Whip it good

Well, maybe -

listening to Devo's "Whip it"

could be considered cruel and inhumane punishment, couldn't it?

I think you've got a truly valid point, jwinathome - any punishment that will truly deter future vicious crime has surely got to be better than the system we have now, sadly.

We have people rallying the troops to object to the proposed 10 lashes this creep has been sentenced to (and, as blueandgold04 pointed out, what interesting reasons they have chosen as the basis of their fight!) but I wonder if these same people are spending an equal amount of money and time on the little victim and her famiy as they are on defending this and other vicious criminals from receiving a few physical ouchies of their own?).

And I imagine many would object to the whipping because our civilization has become so civilized that it would be just wrong, wrong, wrong to stop blaming people's actions on an "imperfect childhood, etc" - after all, how civilized would we be if we expected vile criminals to acknowledge each of us alone must take respnsibility for what we do. Huge huge sigh.

And yes, I imagine that either the physical or chemical 'castration' of this and similar villans would be objected to by many as 'unfair and inhumane' - but surely it would be more humane to protect future innocents over the "rights" of a vicious criminal? As DSTM and Rowal said, this tiny life may live on breathing and eating, etc, but surely the spirit of this little girl is blighted forever.

For all our advancements in so many areas, we seem to have 'overdone' something in our justice system. Forgotten the 'justice' for so many innocent victims. And while we can't truly fix the ruined lives of the victims, we can do everything within our power to ensure that, no matter the 'reason' behind these crimes', that people think twice about committing them and especially about being repeat offenders.

The threat of prison doesn't seem to do it - but how odd that these same people who feel free to destroy and even end other lives are often the ones who instantly scream for their 'human rights' who threatened by their own physical ouchies.

Yup, maybe our civilization would truly be civilized if we stopped pandering to the ones in our society who are NOT the victims!

In this case, bring on the whip!!

Would you vote to have whipping included in punishment for certain crimes? Would you vote to have 'nourishing and wholesome' meals fed to prisoners, but no 'frills'?

If we could change our penal system, what would we really vote for, I wonder?

- -
PM to DSTM - thanks for the 'off topic'! Know no harm was meant by would hate to have topic pulled by a Moderator - gentle smile.

Yeah, I certainly didn't mean to cause any problem with the topic, either.

Otherwise,

I mostly agree with MaraM -

It is easy, sometimes, to feel a certain action is "cruel and unusual". But, when the situation is happening to someone close to you, you may feel that no punishment is enough.


Does every human being deserve the right to be treated with respect, or do some lose that right after they've taken it from someone else?

I think raping a little girl is harsh and inhumane, and the lashings are well deserved. I also think there needs to be more corporal punishment; some people just don't understand anything else.

But when does it get to the point of in-humane and who gets to determine what is and is not?

You would have to have "public" beatings on tv in prime time for this to work.

Over the centuries many forms of punishment and torture have been done on people for lessons.

Like where people used to be locked with their head and arms through a hole for days without food and water on the street front.

There was still crime.

There will always be crime. But there can be less. It does not need to be done by beating someone but it needs to start in the household and when kids are young. Teaching kids good morals and not letting them watch these crap movies from hollywood could make a huge difference in the crime rate.

Its sad when people find it justifiable to kill someone because that someone does not like them. Morals need to be taught young.

I was told by my youth pastor that when he was young if he did not say "yes mam, no sir" and the like he would be beat right then and there.

Kids now days run all over parents. They get to do what they want to. Teach the kids good things and they will continue to do good things when they grow up.

Sailors who would not obey a direct command were whipped.

I get A LOT of spankings from my parents, Rofl, because when I disobey.

-JoshT

Not harsh enough but far better than we do in America. Here its just a slap on the wrist compared to the torment the child faces.

I say we stake him to the ground cover him in pigs blood them let wolverines eat him alive. He deserves to be tormented before he dies.

but I have no issue with whipping being used as a form of punishment.

I'm not sure there is any point in what these lashes will achieve?

What will they achieve?

What will they achieve apart from the personal satisfaction for those who are justifiably offended/damaged by his behaviour?

Gandhi said...nobody can hurt me without my permission

I think that this nicely demonstrates that whatever punishment this guy is given, if he is unable to relate to or justify the intentions of the punishments to himself, then it means and serves no purpose to anybody.

Perhaps the sole point would be what most children learn early in life ... when you hurt someone else, expect to be hurt in return.

For those that have no concience and no empathy for others, this may the only lesson they are capable of learning from.

At the very least, surely a good thrashing with actual physical pain would give him two thoughts - first, that physcial pain is real and far from pleasant and what he's feeling physically is only a small sense of what the tiny child must have felt - and second, that unless he's truly into being hurt himself physically, he should seriously rethink ever repeating the action?

(Did not Gandhi mean 'mentally').

Can understand the concern, honestly, but poor souls used to be thrown into prison and on the 'rack' and on and on - all without a trial usually. And while crime did seem higher then, stealing to feed one's family was darn near essential if something happened to the 'bread winner'. No social services available whatsoever, no life insurance, no pension plans for survivors, etc and surely no counselling or fnancial assistance at all. But our 'civilization' is past that now - and few, if any, excuses can be given for crime in general and then, nor now, has there ever been a good reason for violent crimes against innocents.

I honestly don't know at what point "who gets to determine what is and is not?" in our Court system, CGM ... all I honestly believe is that something - somewhere - has gone terribly wrong.

This may not be the answer but for instance, take a person who rapes a child or other and then for an added 'kick' decides to slice his or her face up. If this should happen to your dear mom, would it be 'fair' to have the Judge give you and your father the option of being placed alone in a cell with the beast for 1/2 hour? And then have it your choice to either forgive him or give him what you view as an appropriate punishment. I wonder if the fear alone of what the family would consider retribution may not deter at least a few? (Most bullies and violent offenders are cowards when it comes to be physically hurt themselves).

I wonder if the justified anger and frustration felt by so many of us is at least partly based on the sense that over and over again the bad guys win in our justice system - until finally, we see little if any true 'justice' prevail?

For myself, sadly I've lost a fair bit of faith in our justice system here. Far too many people commiting heinous crimes and then, often simply because the prisons are crowded, released back into our society within a year or two rather than serving the true 'life sentence', etc.

If something this horrendous happened to someone precious to me and the villian was convicted, I think I'd want a 'good sentence' pronounced. And as dreadful as this sounds, with having such little faith in our system, it may give me pause and consider taking 'the law' into my own hands and borrowing on some of the ideas in earlier posts. If one preys upon the innocent, that someone should know they may have to 'take the consequences' of their actions - and not just face a relatively friendly court system.

Yes, that would, in turn, make me a criminal - but there would be one less vile villan walking around looking for his next innocent victim.

I was raised to have the highest respect for both Police Officers and the Court system - yet I remember my father teaching us that when a civilization's justice system starts to fall apart and people loose faith in it, that particular civilization starts to erode as well.

I'm sorry if this is harsh but for that crime I'd have whipped his nads.
But I feel if you actually execute punisment it will deter.

After much thought I have decided on what to post. This man is very disturbed and obviously cannot function as a part of civilized society, his crime is inhumane, seeing a little girl as an object of sexual lust, and not as a human being. He needs to be punished severely and needs to be made a big example to help deter future rapings. Personally I don't think a few whippings spread over several weeks will do much. I believe in that he needs to be humiliated publicly, and the man be forced to come face to face with the family (but not the little girl ever again, as this may cause even more truama), and face what ever punishment they see fit and be forced to undergo this punishment in full view of the public.

However, dispite how we all feel we do need to bring up the fact: most people hate theese kind of people, and would like to see them dead or worse, what he did was very inhumane, but when we deliver justice we should keep in mind that if we do anything that constitues as inhumane, we are no better than this rapist. Just something to think about, as we pounder his crime.

I'm not saying we need to treat him fair, I'm all for public castration and whipings, but we do have to realize that sometime "Justice" can be just as inhumane.

I agree, public, not on TV and hanging. Nobody is scared to be drugged and go to "sleep".

I think castration is a good idea. I guess I'm just the vengful type, if that happened to my granddaughter, let's just say I've come up with worse things to happen to the guy. And when it was over, he'd still die.....

I have given my idea of Punishment that I think is appropriate under Western Law in a previous Post. I think in this horrific case of Rape on an innocent 6yr old Girl,that the Death Penalty would send a strong message,and act as a deterent,to others.
If I had a choice of what I would like to see happen to this Animal,I would like him to be paraded in a public Square and dealt a "Muslim Style Execution" like in Saudi Arabia.No wonder their Crime rate is low compared to ours.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&...;m=3&y=2003

Bad link, can you repost it?

Sorry,I double checked prior to posting in preview post.
Will find alternate Link relating to my post.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2966790.stm

Hope this one works.

Dern, I can't get to it for some reason. What is the title of the article, I could probably find it. Sorry!!

I supplied a different Link.The one I wanted to use was under Saudi Executions (Google) 2nd on web index page entitled "Moments before Execution." You may have better luck than me.

Intriguing read for sure.

Out of curiosity...would you be for imposing Sharia Law in Australia?

Basicly what the article is the upholding of Sharia (Muslim law) by harsh means including beheading, while this seems cruel, and odd by western standards it is seen as God's will, therefore is not inhumane in the eyes of the Muslims of Saudi Arabia. Also more methods include the maiming or severing limbs, depending on the crime committed. However I don't neccisarily believe that the harsh punishment is the reason of detered crime but rather Muslim law(Sharia), that all Muslims must abide by, as it is considered God's will, and Islam is about submitting ones self to God's will.

To the above poster: Sharia is Islamic law, while many of these laws set are good ones to uphold for all people, not all could possibly apply to a nation that is not an Islamic Republic, or a nation with a Muslim majority.

I am all too aware of what sharia law is, and isn't. I was just curious if someone would be for imposing it upon their respective nation. Regardless of having a muslim majority or not.

A basic question that would immediately come to mind is punishment for apostasy. Is that really a deterrent from crime? Is that really a crime to be deterred? I guess this is probably heading off topic.

To be back on topic...are the punishments enacted with regards to Sharia truly deterrents? Do we notice less crime coming from the world of Islam? do they have equal rights and freedoms comparable with say...America?

Like I stated before, I dont believe that theese punishments are for deterring crime, this is what european/western ideology holds to is deterring future crime. I believe that the punishments are just that Punishing someone for going outside God's will. As for a deterrant, personally I wouldn't be so fast to commit a crime if I knew that if I was caught I could kiss my arm or my eyes or my head goodbye. As for equal rights and freedoms, you have to consider the differences between Islam and the country of the United States of America. Islam is a religion, while America is a nation of many different beliefs/religions. Also you must consider the reason behind some of the things you may consider unequall rights or odd. They are completely different cultures, and to say America is most free would be hard because you must consider what kind of freedom. Consider the fact that American freedoms allow thier youth to listen to horrible music that incites hatefull feelings, (marilyn manson , and w/e song about raping a girl), and yet in Islam this is shunned. The freedom to go to the store and buy books with naked pictures of people you do not know, this is also shunned. Consider that America allows it's people to join groups such as the KKK or other racists groups, while in TRUE Islam, racism is not even known!

Interesting post"ussr1943".What your saying in the first line of your post differs from what I have in bold type.That is the whole point of harsh Penalties,is to send a strong message out to others that this type of behavior is not tolerated.Even you said personally,you would think twice, and so would be the next person, who thought about a Career in Crime.It just isn't worth it.The point I am trying to make is that our System isn't working.When we have former inmates telling the Judge in court that they purposely re offended,just to be put back in prison,because they say life is easier on the inside.I say something is drastically wrong.I have seen 3 Televised court hearings, where this has taken place.
Make the punishment severe enough and the Crime rate will come down in numbers,IMHO.
No, 'Jwinathome'I am not advocating all Sharia laws in this Country,but if their Forms of Punishment work,why not impliment the some their Laws, that will no doubt deter Crime.I see no reason why some of their Penalties can't work here.
Why should we have any Compassion, as the the severity of their Punishment,when they show no Compassion towards a fellow Human Being?

What I mean was as a side note: I would probably think twice before committing a crime, although the aim of these kinds of punishments may not be to deter but rather to bring justice in the eyes of God on earth.

Well I really disagree about the effectiveness of corporal/capital punishment. Overall prison does not work.

What draws me to that conclusion.

1. In the UK the prisons are full to capacity, there is talk about releasing some offenders early to make more room for the more serious offenders. Our government has known about this problem for about 10years, and all of a sudden they are shocked that there is no room.

2. If the death penalty was a deterent there would be vey few inmates awating it.

3. The public whiping, stoning etc in the middle east hasnt stopped homosexuality, rape, murder, adultery.

BUt what should we do with these people? Who knows, I dont.

I do think that whipping this person is a bit harsh, but only on the grounds that it has happend only twice before. Just one source


Source

If this is going to become a common punishment then maybe it isnt so harsh, but is it only being carried out to get some pre-election votes for someone?? What about all the crimes in the above quote. They must have been reported and investigated to be included in crime statistics, so where was the whipping in those cases??.


All that said, if someone did that to my child I would wait for them to finsh their prison time, find them and then slowly torture them to death. Even if it would mean my own prison time, it would be a risk I would be willing to take.

Wow, that to me is a very misguided statement.

Can you explain what your username means?

Union of Solviet Socialist Republics
СоÑŽÌ�з СовеÌ�Ñ‚Ñ�киÑ… СоциалиÑ�Ñ‚иÌ�чеÑ�киÑ… РеÑ�пÑÆ’Ì�блик, СССÐ
(Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, SSSR)
Was formed in 1922 after the Russian revolution (1917 October Revolution)

The USSR has nothing to do with my comment, If your insinuating I like the fact Stalin killed thousands of people or the tyranny of the KGB ( КГБ ) I expect an apology, as I am deeply offended. And true Islam racism is not known. why do I say that? because people from every race come to worship as brothers and sisters in their pilgramige to Mecca, and notice I say true Islam, because I don't believe such leaders like those of Iran or palistine are true Muslims as they want to encourage violence and death of the jewish people outright.

While I don't want to fully explain my name for reasons that in politics it's easy to scare friends off.
If you want to know why I have chosen this name, It's because I believe in true communism, and the fact that I'm good friends with my friends grandfather who served in WW2 in the year 1943 on the solviet side, fighting back the Nazi Invaders. And while we're digging more into my name trying to find out who I am and specultating my character you'll probably want to
know what my Sig says.

It reads.

"Moscow! one, two, three!
Moscow! Look!
Pioneers are walking around there, singing songs to Lenin."

Which is actually from a song.

I wasn't implying anything, which is why I asked a question.

Do the words "exterminate the jews" suggest no racism? They know very well what racism is because their is a jihad against it. Communism does, and will not ever work. You may call it "true communism", but I am not sure what "fake communism" is.

To your point, I could argue that "TRUE" Islam does not accept all races. In fact to suggest so is to severely misinterpret the Quran.

We may be getting


Are there any people today actually practicing "TRUE" Islam?

Maybe another thread?

Actually according to the koran/ Al Q'uaran everyone is free to come and accept Islam and to submit to God's will.
Allow me to enlighten you

True Communism: All are equall, each person puts out and recieves thier fair share in society, there is no need for a gov't or a military, yes true communism is a utopian ideal therefore unattainable, so I can still like the idea of True communism.

True Islam: Submitting to God's will, and following God's words without twisting them to be for what ever cause you want to represent.

your assuming all Muslims are racists, and that all Muslims place jihads on other races/foriegn beliefs ect. You have to be able to distinguish between the true pious believer and the ones that are bad and give Islam, and Muslims bad names.

If I were you I would go edjucate myself before further posting as to not enflame this situation any more between us. And I would expect you to show some respect in this section of the forums in which all beliefs are shared.To blindly assume all True Muslims are racists is ignorant.

C-net Speakeasy Forum is now Policital and Religion Free. Personally,I would like to see the same applied here.
I for one get sick of all the semantics all the time. This does not make for entertaining reading.IMHO.

To be back on topic, has anyone cheacked out if there is more recent news on the case?

I was wondering ...

Crime rates (per capita) versus punishment in each country.

I'm a bit of a coward so I can't imagine anyone, knowing they would be sentenced to 'hard labour' for 10 years for beating an innocent person to death "for the hell of it", wouldn't think hard about it ... versus the same crime and receiving 5 years in prison with good food, no heavy labour, telephone use, 'marital time' every second weekend or monthly and often free computer use and educational degrees available.

May not be the same as staying at 'The Hilton' but surely much more agreeable than being forced out of bed each morning at dawn and being put to work.

- - -

PM to JohnWho ... keep forgetting to mention how much I like your 'Bleep' icon!

Thanks -

I'm practicing TRUE "Bleep!"

Where should we draw the line at what one considers what is humane and not?

What I might think is inhumane, might be humane to you. Abortion, death penalty (especially). How do you really know he doesn't suffer? Have you tried it, and survived? No one can say you don't suffer with lethal injection. No one has survived to say "Hey this didn't make me suffer... yada yada etc.."

It is just that not everyone sees eye to eye. What Christians see as being right is wrong in the Islamic faith and visa versa. So who is right? It is whatever you believe in. What you believe decides what you think is ethical, immoral, and inhumane. A person with no religion might be more tolerant to punishment than a evangeglical christian, but then again I am sterotyping here. But isn't that what we all do?

Why is beer associated with St. Patrick's Day or Germany? What about Russians (or Canadians) and Hockey? etc..?