Undoubtedly, you've heard of Josef Fritz, the Austrian uber-sadist, recently convicted of crimes so beyond heinous against his daughter, no punishment will ever fit the scope of the crime.
And without question, you've caught wind of Bernie Madoff, who was also recently convicted of crimes of very very different nature, but again with a prison sentence that will never be adequate for the damage he caused and the lives he ruined.
The question becomes: what would be/is a proper way to punish them? And even then, if we tarred, feathered, and whatever else horrible things we could think to do, would it ever be enough?
Elie Wiesel suggested Madoff should be forced to watch a constant scroll of victims images for the rest of his life. I like this idea, except that for the punishment to be successful, you must first have a conscious.
I don't know what the Austrian people believe should be done with Fritz, but I imagine they have no shortage of ideas and ways to torture him. Culturally speaking, if you'll excuse the generalization, they seem to be good at that.
My solution:
I propose that Mr. Fritz and Mr. Madoff should be confined together. However different their crimes may be, they share acts so beyond the pale (and wives who most certainly knew what they were doing) that they deserve each other. Let them share an 8x10 cell and spend the rest of their days out together.
