Post by Anja on Jun 18, 2006 7:36:36 GMT -5
No death penalty for sex offenders
A Oklahoma's governor, Brad Henry, a Democrat, signed a bill this month
that would allow jurors to sentence to death repeat sex offenders for
crimes against children younger than 14. The day before, South Carolina
Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican, signed a bill that would allow capital
punishment for repeat offenders guilty of sex crimes against children
younger than 11. Sanford announced that the bill would be "an incredibly
powerful deterrent to offenders that have been released."
I could not disagree more -- and I support the death penalty, and believe
that men (and women) who repeatedly rape or molest children deserve harsh
punishment and long, hard time in the big house.
Michael Rushford of the pro-death penalty Criminal Justice Legal
Foundation in Sacramento, Calif., captured my thoughts exactly when he
said: "It's like this. If you get a death sentence for raping a little
girl, and you get a death sentence for a raping a little girl and killing
a little girl, and the only witness to the crime is the little girl, why
not kill them all?"
These bills are likely to eat up a lot of tax dollars on appeals -- then
lose, as the U.S. Supreme Court seems predisposed to overturn the new
legislation.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, no one
has been executed in America for a crime that did not involve murder. In
1977, the court ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute a man for
the crime of raping an adult woman -- and this rape occurred as the rapist
escaped from a Georgia prison, where he was serving time for murder, rape,
kidnapping and aggravated assault.
The Big Bench ruled that "a sentence of death is grossly disproportionate
and excessive punishment for the crime of rape and is therefore forbidden
by the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment." It is a fine
principle of American jurisprudence that the state does not mete out a
punishment greater than the crime.
Since 1976, 5 states have passed laws to allow execution for sex crimes
against children, but according to The Associated Press, only one inmate
has been sentenced to death -- he raped an 8-year-old girl in Louisiana --
and his case is pending on appeal.
Rushford noted the many judges who would oppose the death penalty, even
for an unrepentant multiple murderer like Stanley "Tookie" Williams, who
was executed in December. Ergo, even more judges will look at the death
penalty for sex offenders and "are going to step up to say, 'This is over
the line.'"
And: "If I were an opponent of the death penalty, I would probably support
the Oklahoma law." I called Lance Lindsey of Death Penalty Focus, which
opposes capital punishment. Lindsey told me he opposes the law, too:
"Essentially, I'm against the government killing prisoners."
Here are two additional reasons other states should not follow Oklahoma.
First, the hint of child abuse can spawn a witch-hunt atmosphere in the
courts. Authorities have been known to coax young children to accuse
innocent adults, and prosecutors have charged child-care providers based
on testimony that was hard to believe when cooler heads prevailed. Witness
the infamous McMartin preschool case in 1983.
Second, America's laws should not send a message that the victims of
sexual assaults have been harmed irrevocably, as murder victims are. No
victim survives murder. Rape presents horrific trauma -- however, over
time, most victims, even child victims, can overcome the pain and sense of
violation. I don't want laws that tell child victims they have experienced
something as damaging as murder. They've been hurt enough.
(source: Opinion, Debra Saunders, Townhall.com)
A Oklahoma's governor, Brad Henry, a Democrat, signed a bill this month
that would allow jurors to sentence to death repeat sex offenders for
crimes against children younger than 14. The day before, South Carolina
Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican, signed a bill that would allow capital
punishment for repeat offenders guilty of sex crimes against children
younger than 11. Sanford announced that the bill would be "an incredibly
powerful deterrent to offenders that have been released."
I could not disagree more -- and I support the death penalty, and believe
that men (and women) who repeatedly rape or molest children deserve harsh
punishment and long, hard time in the big house.
Michael Rushford of the pro-death penalty Criminal Justice Legal
Foundation in Sacramento, Calif., captured my thoughts exactly when he
said: "It's like this. If you get a death sentence for raping a little
girl, and you get a death sentence for a raping a little girl and killing
a little girl, and the only witness to the crime is the little girl, why
not kill them all?"
These bills are likely to eat up a lot of tax dollars on appeals -- then
lose, as the U.S. Supreme Court seems predisposed to overturn the new
legislation.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, no one
has been executed in America for a crime that did not involve murder. In
1977, the court ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute a man for
the crime of raping an adult woman -- and this rape occurred as the rapist
escaped from a Georgia prison, where he was serving time for murder, rape,
kidnapping and aggravated assault.
The Big Bench ruled that "a sentence of death is grossly disproportionate
and excessive punishment for the crime of rape and is therefore forbidden
by the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment." It is a fine
principle of American jurisprudence that the state does not mete out a
punishment greater than the crime.
Since 1976, 5 states have passed laws to allow execution for sex crimes
against children, but according to The Associated Press, only one inmate
has been sentenced to death -- he raped an 8-year-old girl in Louisiana --
and his case is pending on appeal.
Rushford noted the many judges who would oppose the death penalty, even
for an unrepentant multiple murderer like Stanley "Tookie" Williams, who
was executed in December. Ergo, even more judges will look at the death
penalty for sex offenders and "are going to step up to say, 'This is over
the line.'"
And: "If I were an opponent of the death penalty, I would probably support
the Oklahoma law." I called Lance Lindsey of Death Penalty Focus, which
opposes capital punishment. Lindsey told me he opposes the law, too:
"Essentially, I'm against the government killing prisoners."
Here are two additional reasons other states should not follow Oklahoma.
First, the hint of child abuse can spawn a witch-hunt atmosphere in the
courts. Authorities have been known to coax young children to accuse
innocent adults, and prosecutors have charged child-care providers based
on testimony that was hard to believe when cooler heads prevailed. Witness
the infamous McMartin preschool case in 1983.
Second, America's laws should not send a message that the victims of
sexual assaults have been harmed irrevocably, as murder victims are. No
victim survives murder. Rape presents horrific trauma -- however, over
time, most victims, even child victims, can overcome the pain and sense of
violation. I don't want laws that tell child victims they have experienced
something as damaging as murder. They've been hurt enough.
(source: Opinion, Debra Saunders, Townhall.com)