The ultimate penalty for child rapists
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Margaret Murphy
Published: June 24, 2008
I would ask everyone to search their hearts and try to support the bill coming forth that would assign the death penalty to anyone raping a child.
Some who know me will be surprised at me supporting the death penalty. I have not changed, I still place my trust in God and lift my hand to nobody, and I pray for all persons involved, but this is such an
abhorrent and devastating crime that robs the victim and all who are close to the victim of their heart and soul and affects their life forever.
I would also ask that our legislators be responsible, honorable people and not attach a lot of baggage to this bill because it is so important, and I would ask that guidelines be established that there must
be irrefutable proof/concrete evidence, because I have also seen innocent people hurt by gossip and ill will.
God honors our justice system and empowers it with the ability to enact the death penalty. Some will say that it is wrong for me, as a Christian to support this bill.
Perhaps you should speak to some that you send to prison for life and find that there is death before death. This crime is so abhorrent that I believe it causes God sorrow too.
By enacting the death penalty, you may give someone strength to stay their hand when the darkness comes and they turn into monsters.
MARGARET MURPHY
Dumfries
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( raywilliams ) on June 28, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I like jVA’s castration idea. Then release him into the prison population as Chris suggests with a few bars of soap for added incentive.
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Posted by ( zcxnissan ) on June 28, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Release them into the General Population. Inmate justice is best. remember the Catholic priest that got whacked. LOL Chris Cummings
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on June 27, 2008 at 5:07 am
Willow703,
“Your solution of spending more money up front on crime prevention will never get by the NOMWs, (Not Out of My Wallet)“
Which is actually the heart of this entire issue. Conservatives would rather build more prisons (run by for-profit corporations), and watch more people executed, than spend money on programs that could help people lead healthy and productive lives.
Combined with Conservatives love of torture and making war (without themselves participating), I’m convinced it’s a blood-lust thing. They just like seeing people suffer and die.
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Posted by ( willow703 ) on June 26, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Ron,
Yes, we have a set of international laws governing the conduct of war, but we also have a president who says that “enemy combatants” captured on the “battlefield” in what he has declared is a “war” on terror are not protected by the international laws governing the conduct of war.
The death penalty is not a deterrence, no penalty is a deterrence. A penalty is retribution for the commission of an offense. If you talked to a thousand felons, you could probably count on the fingers of one hand those who said they thought beforehand that they might be caught & punished.
Finally, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Mugabe, Pol Pot & others have proved that you don’t have to kill a person to take their life.
Your solution of spending more money up front on crime prevention will never get by the NOMWs, (Not Out of My Wallet)
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Posted by ( Sammy B ) on June 26, 2008 at 4:41 pm
It is worth pointing out that executing child rapists might discourage the reporting of the crime if the rapist is a family member. It would also provide incentive for rapists to kill their victims in order to prevent testimony, as an additional murder charge would be rendered meaningless in terms of sentencing.
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on June 26, 2008 at 10:20 am
Willow703,
Our society has long agreed that killing opposing military members on the field of battle, in the course of conducting war, is acceptable. We even have an entire set of internationally binding laws governing the conduct of war.
I have several friends and family members who have worked in correctional custody facilities, and I’m aware that prisons are no bed of roses.
I also don’t have a hard-n-fast answer for what to do with people who have no sense of guilt & no sense of right & wrong. Other than, perhaps, apply what we already know of childhood development into operating childhood programs to those at-risk children, that may reduce the incident of children developing into hardened monsters. In other words, spend more money up front for prevention to reduce money spent at the back end on correctional custody; something our society seems to have a problem with (Conservatives animosity towards Head Start and other child-focused social programs, for example).
I actually don’t have a philosophical problem with capital punishment; IF it fits the crime of taking another person’s life, was consistent in application (making it a real deterrence) and there was a 0% error rate in convictions.
But the way we are currently using it - 12% error rate in convictions, 26% race-related that make the application appear arbitrary, and now attempting to use it for deterrence in a crime that does not physically take another’s life - leads me to oppose capital punishment.
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Posted by ( willow703 ) on June 26, 2008 at 8:42 am
Ron,
Perhaps you are right. But let’s ask another question. How do we decide if killing the forces of our enemies on the battlefield is proper defense of our country?
Having served 17 years as a corrections officer for the District of Columbia, I know that prison is no “bed of roses”.
I also know that there are thousands of people in our prisons who have no sense of guilt & no sense of right & wrong.
They commit murder, go to prison & murder again without fear of punishment because they are already serving life without parole.
What do we do with these people?
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on June 26, 2008 at 6:56 am
Yes, child rape is a terrible crime. There are a lot of other crimes that are terrible, also. When do we decide that killing a person accused of committing a crime is proper justice? Rape of children? Rape of another adult? Assault with intent to kill (but didn’t)? Robbery with intent to kill (but didn’t)? Plain assault? Plain old robbery? Jaywalking?
Are we as a society so bloodthirsty that we need every crime punished by killing the assumed perpetrator?
Consider also that currently approximately 12% of all people on death row are found to have been wrongly convicted, sometimes after they are executed.
Enough is enough. In my opinion, the Supreme Court ruled correctly in this case.
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on June 25, 2008 at 5:19 pm
And many Catholic priests breathe a sigh of relief ......
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Posted by ( jVA ) on June 25, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I don’t know. Maybe the court is right. Its a hard thing to be objective about. I’d probably be calling for the death penalty if something like this happened to one of my children or family members.
How about castration? Is that proportional enough?
btw Justice Anthony Kennedy was appointed by RONALD REAGAN. Love how mmarin refers to him as a “liberal”. Nice try.
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