The cruelest punishment of all

[pegkerr]

I was reading an article about Dennis Rader, the BTK killer who has just been sent off to spend the rest of his miserable life in prison. This paragraph caught my eye:

Prosecutors asked the judge at sentencing to recommend Rader be barred from seeing or listening to news reports regarding his murders, prohibited from possessing anything with which he could draw or write about his sexual fantasies, and disallowed from making audio or visual recordings other than for law enforcement purposes.

The prosecution request surprised defense attorneys, who said they have not had time to research the issue.

If this prohibition stands, I wonder if this means he will be prevented from writing anything at all for the rest of his life. The death penalty is terrible (and I don't believe in it), prison for life is terrible. But being prevented from writing for the rest of my life would be, to me, unimaginable, perhaps the cruelest punishment of all.

There was discussion on this entry yesterday about the question of redemption in those who have committed grievous crimes. I can think of some who did perhaps redeem themselves in prison (e.g., Robert Stroud, the so-called Birdman of Alcatraz); one commonality between them is that they were allowed to read and write, which allowed them to reflect upon their actions and imagine a better outlet for their passions, even if, like Robert Stroud, it could only be in a small thing, like canaries.

Discuss.

Comments

[vaguely.livejournal.com]

Not being allowed pen and paper for the rest of my natural life would be the equivalent of killing me.

I've actually told everyone who knows and likes me at all that if I were ever incapacitated in a way that prevented me from writing that they might as well kill me, because I live through ink. And I am serious about that.

I don't feel sorry for this scum at all, but in a way...I hate to think of that kind of life.