[Just mythoughts]

I do not agree with Criminal Education 101. That uncivilized creature that kidnapped those two girls seems well schooled in Criminal Education 101. These freaks are running the criminal justice system.

[Gordongekko909]

Here's the deal: if there is no difference in penalty between a rape and a rape plus murder, then there is no reason for rapists not to murder their victims. Murdering the victim eliminates (in many cases) the only witness, so there's plenty of incentive to do it already. Not having any additional punishment for doing it aggravates this problem.

This is very morbid reasoning, but it's valid. It helps to ensure that rapists actually get caught and tossed in jail, and it protects the lives of rape victims. We get this in exchange for shorter sentences for rapists. This beats the hell out of not catching them at all.