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Originally Posted by The Might
He commited crimes, and even though he has some...I don't know how they're called in English...maybe Raynor can translate this term (circumstante atenuante), he still is guilty for theose actions and should be punished for them.
Now, whether the punishment he would receive would be the capital one or not, probably would depend on who would give the sentence.
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I think the notions of justice, that we are all used to, are not of much use in Gollum's case. I'm aware this is a tangent, so I'll try to be short. I'm quoting
TM here, but similar points have been made by others, too, I think. I will re-quote a quote
Raynor gave many moons ago, and which went quite unnoticed.
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Originally Posted by Of the severance of marriage, Manuscript A, Later Quenta Silmarillion, HoME X
Neither must ye forget that in Arda Marred Justice is not Healing. Healing cometh only by suffering and patience, and maketh no demand, not even for Justice. Justice worketh only within the bonds of things as they are, accepting the marring of Arda, and therefore though Justice is itself good and desireth no further evil, it can but perpetuate the evil that was, and doth not prevent it from the bearing of fruit in sorrow.
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Healing can mean two things. First, of course, the healing of the wounds that a crime has caused to the victims of it. Second, the wounds inside the criminal, which are very apparent and visible in Gollum. Of course it would be just to punish him (disregarding the disagreement about Gollum's mental status at this point), but what would come out of it? Would Gollum repent due to it? I can hardly imagine that, given that the Elves of Mirkwood were as kind as possible to him and Gollum still hated them more than anything. In Gollum's case, justice would indeed perpetuate his evil and perhaps further it. So, unless the punishment would have been capital (of course), it would not have changed anything in the long run, except to satisfy our, may I say 'vain'?, sense of justice.
I would say that justice is inapplicable in Gollum's case. If our goal is to "get him back for the good side" then we must offer healing, of which Frodo's pity was a beginning. Because of Gollum's complicated and intriguing nature, healing and justice are more or less irreconcilable.
In reality, this approach is of course inapplicable itself, as we need a system of justice to maintain order. If brought to the real world, a proper court would probably see him as criminally incapable. Though I don't see him as insane, he's surely insane enough to fit into that category. So he would go to an asylum, which would try to give healing, but wouldn't succeed as Gollum would doubtlessly still see it as punishment. It's good that we are in Middle-earth.
