You say that it is the way forward because it is the law? Like mandatory minimums and the harsh laws for crack cocaine versus powdered cocaine? Just because it is the law does not mean that it is just. We must follow the law, but we can strive to change them.
In my country, if you serve a life sentence you will get out on parole, on average, after 15-16 years. I think that is long enough, but there are some who do not get out because they have not been rehabilitated. I think that is far more just.
People change, they regret and they repent. A justice system should have room for that. That is the essence of justice to me. A life sentence here is something you only get for premeditated murder. Death is final, attempted murder, or rape, does not compare.
Emotionally vegetative state? People with terrible mental scars get up every morning and go to work, especially in the US. All people are different, but I do not believe that most women do not recover to some degree. Certainly there are scars, things that never go away, yet just as the veteran with PTSD bites his tongue on the 4th of July but still functions, so do I believe that victims of all sorts of assault, be it sexual or physical, recover to some degree. Murder is final, the rest we can - and should - help.
He might be European. Most of us have civil law.
I don't deserve to ask that question? That sounds vindictive and revenge has no place in criminal law.