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Like hell it's not!

  • Jun. 25th, 2008 at 12:52 PM
WTF!?
Court rejects death penalty for raping children

To quote: "The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. His four liberal colleagues joined him, while the four more conservative justices dissented.

No, you're right Honorable Mr. Kennedy --- a SLOW death penalty would be proportional for the rape of a child.

Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas allow executions in such cases if the defendant had previously been convicted of raping a child.


Well shit, one thing Oklahoma did get right has just now been overturned by the Supreme Court.

But Kennedy said the absence of any executions for rape and the small number of states that allow it demonstrate "there is a national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape."

Uh no. What it means is the aforementioned states have chosen to govern themselves accordingly. Perhaps you missed our founding fathers' vision of a weak centralized government and strong localized government. Asshat.

Kennedy also acknowledged that the decision had to come to terms with "the years of long anguish that must be endured by the victim of child rape."

Right. Which is now countered by a sentence between 5 not to exceed 60 years. I'm sure Patrick Kennedy's step-daughter will be pleased to know that her step-father will be out on parole in 15 years for "good conduct" --- yeah, he'll be a registered sex offender under Meagan's law and living within 5 miles of his local elementary school.

Hey Honorable Kennedy... how about we let this law be decided by adults who were child-victims of rape? I don't understand how you can be pro Constitutional amendments for the inclusion of gay rights and yet completely FUCK UP a violation of the Bill of Rights. You know: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Ask Patrick Kennedy's step-daughter in 10 years, with her PTSD, counseling, meds --- that is, if she survives being a teenager with the guilt and shame of being a rape victim.

Still, Kennedy concluded that in cases of crimes against individuals — as opposed to treason, for example — "the death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim's life was not taken."

Really Judge Kennedy? You don't think a rape victim's life is not taken? I want you to sit down with Patrick Kennedy's step-daughter and ask her how she feels.

Take this quote to heart Judge Kennedy...and fellow Supreme Court Justices:A second Louisiana man, Richard Davis was sentenced to death in December for repeatedly raping a 5-year-old girl in Caddo Parish, which includes Shreveport. Local prosecutor Lea Hall told jurors: "Execute this man. Justice has a sword and this sword needs to swing today."


This was my day to relax...

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Comments

( 36 comments — Leave a comment )
[info]rogueeditor wrote:
Jun. 25th, 2008 06:40 pm (UTC)
I *do* believe in forgiveness and do my best to follow the 5 basic precepts of Buddhism...and I ALSO believe very strongly, that sometimes the most compassionate thing you can do is ensure that someone never harms again.
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[info]neutronjockey wrote:
Jun. 26th, 2008 08:18 am (UTC)
I don't like the idea of a 'civilised nation' being a proponent of the death penalty... I also don't like the idea that these predators are allowed to live. Tough balance.
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[info]mimerki wrote:
Jun. 25th, 2008 06:44 pm (UTC)
I'm not surprised. Saddened, yes, but not surprised. I mean, just because the rest of the population of a prison can identify that someone needs to die (and will often take care of that for you), doesn't mean that we as a society should take responsibility for shooting our rabid dogs. And child-molesters are just that, rabid dogs, in the same category as serial killers and other dangerous psychopaths. They don't get better. They don't change. And every minute that they are breathing is a minute in which they are continuing to do harm to their victims.

Oh, wait, sorry, I'm ranting.
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[info]rogueeditor wrote:
Jun. 25th, 2008 06:49 pm (UTC)
Oh, wait, sorry, I'm ranting.
Huh, and here *I* thought you were talking good sense ;-)
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[info]mimerki wrote:
Jun. 25th, 2008 06:52 pm (UTC)
You only think that because I stopped at one paragraph. :P
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[info]neutronjockey wrote:
Jun. 26th, 2008 08:19 am (UTC)
That's a start of a rant from you...not a complete one.
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[info]csinman wrote:
Jun. 25th, 2008 08:31 pm (UTC)
It's difficult for me to decide how I feel about officially sanctioned capital punishment in any given instance. It's a lot easier to know what I would do with a loaded gun and complete privacy.
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[info]sinthrex wrote:
Jun. 25th, 2008 11:52 pm (UTC)
Sorry, I'm not going to agree with you on this one.

You give me a justice system that even can do a drive by on 100% correct convictions, and I'll hand you execution for all sorts of shit on a platter. Until then, no game.
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[info]neutronjockey wrote:
Jun. 26th, 2008 08:11 am (UTC)
Can't give you 100% correct convictions. I can give you convictions where irrefutible evidence was provided to derive that conviction.

I can haz death sentence nao?
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[info]sinthrex wrote:
Jun. 27th, 2008 05:06 am (UTC)
Sorry shippy, while it doesn't appear to be applicable in this particular case, in general, I don't trust the Louisiana justice system to properly convict a dog of licking it's own asshole.

Even if the dog was doing it on the witness stand.
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[info]fledgist wrote:
Jun. 26th, 2008 12:22 am (UTC)
I disagree with you Jeffrey. Death is final and irrevocable. Rape is a truly horrible experience, I agree. It is a particularly horrible one for a child, especially since the child does not understand what is going on, has had his or her trust violated (rape is, first of all a violation of trust, and secondly an assertion of unjust power), and has been seriously hurt and traumatised. I can understand the need for revenge. But the child can recover. I do know whereof I speak.

And death, it seems to me, is an inadequate punishment.
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[info]neutronjockey wrote:
Jun. 26th, 2008 08:15 am (UTC)
Rape is final and irrevocable. Not all victims recover --- not fully. And many rapists are at a final and irreversible mental state.

Death is a hard and harsh punishment. I believe this is a crime that deserves the harshest punishments --- if not death then what?
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[info]fledgist wrote:
Jun. 26th, 2008 09:57 am (UTC)
Putting them away for a long time.
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[info]fledgist wrote:
Jun. 26th, 2008 10:37 am (UTC)
Perhaps. But what if mistakes are made? The Innocence Project keeps finding people who have been wrongly imprisoned for rape and murder. And death is irrevocable. Many who live doubtless deserve death, but, as Gandalf famously said, many who die deserve life.
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[info]neutronjockey wrote:
Jun. 26th, 2008 12:08 pm (UTC)
I can handle a death sentence delivered by a guilty verdict that was derived from a positive DNA match.
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[info]fledgist wrote:
Jun. 26th, 2008 12:13 pm (UTC)
Those weren't available in 1966.
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[info]sinthrex wrote:
Jun. 27th, 2008 03:35 pm (UTC)
Do you have good sources for the accuracy of DNA testing?

Wikipedia and Google have failed me.

Roger theoretic aaccuracy of 1E13 or so, but what is it in actual lab testing?
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[info]neutronjockey wrote:
Jun. 29th, 2008 05:04 am (UTC)
Varies on type of test and matching procedures used. I doubt the courts are using anything near what the private or university sectors are using --- but as an example the evidence on DNA matching in the OJ Simpson murder trial was something like a 1:4 billion chance that someone with identical match points could have committed the same crime.

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[info]sinthrex wrote:
Jun. 27th, 2008 05:14 am (UTC)
Doesn't track.

Even the conservative estimates place the cost of life in prison without parole to be ~ equal to that of execution.

Some estimates (which I start to wonder about the numbers on) place execution as considerably more expensive.

I can also think of many much better ways of spending the money, but in either case it depends on people not fucking with other people. Which we as a species = fail.
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[info]neutronjockey wrote:
Jun. 27th, 2008 11:40 am (UTC)
Which we as a species = fail.


Private Island.

Who's in?
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[info]sinthrex wrote:
Jun. 27th, 2008 03:36 pm (UTC)
I think we're both out. A large part of our culture is based on fucking with people. (In far nicer ways, but.... well thinking of tourmaline tricks, maybe not...)
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[info]neutronjockey wrote:
Jun. 29th, 2008 05:04 am (UTC)
We'd be alloted one grease gun and one scapegoat each.
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[info]grrlanimal wrote:
Jul. 2nd, 2008 06:39 pm (UTC)
Being raped as a child informs every single decision you ever make, can set feet on a path of self-destruction, steers the whole rest-of-the-life in a totally different direction. I think recovery, and a truly healthy life, is rare.
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[info]fledgist wrote:
Jul. 2nd, 2008 08:00 pm (UTC)
I can only speak for my experience.
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[info]grrlanimal wrote:
Jul. 2nd, 2008 08:07 pm (UTC)
Nonsense. We observe other people's experiences and have opinions about them every day. I haven't had the experience of being confined to a wheelchair, but I have friends who are, and I can learn about their experience of life and speak out on the need for access. I've never been a child living in a war situation, but I can have and understanding of, and empathy for, their situation and have thoughts about solutions.
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[info]fledgist wrote:
Jul. 2nd, 2008 08:23 pm (UTC)
I meant regarding this particular subject. You're making a very broad claim. I was a victim of rape as a child -- at the age of nine, by two older boys -- aggravated by the racist intent of the rapists. Since they were white, and I was not they decided they were going to have fun with an innocent younger boy. They pretented to befriend me, and on a school outing to Wimbledon Common lured me to a remote spot and raped me. They got suspended from school for two weeks for assaulting me. I got a new pair of shoes at the taxpayers' expense, since they'd thrown away mine.

I'd say that I've recovered and live a reasonably mentally healthy life. That has been my experience. I can't speak for the experience of other people who have been raped as children.

If, by what you write above, you're making a claim to speak for my experience, by the way, that's not empathy, but arrogance.

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[info]grrlanimal wrote:
Jul. 2nd, 2008 08:45 pm (UTC)
I'm not making a claim to speak for your experience. I was taking issue with you saying you can only speak for your experience, and your earlier comment said that "a child can recover", which was a very broad claim, based on your experience. Based on my experience, my own personal experience with my rape as a child, and how it informed my life, and the many women who were abused as children and found themselves in abusive relationships as adults, or in the porn industry, or prostitutes, recovery is not that common.

I'm glad you are leading a healthy life.
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[info]fledgist wrote:
Jul. 2nd, 2008 09:00 pm (UTC)
I can only speak for my experience. I can't speak for your's. And a child can recover. Which is what I said. That's not saying that every child will. I am sorry that you had that terrible experience. I know how terrible it was.

I am sorry that I caused you offense.

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[info]grrlanimal wrote:
Jul. 3rd, 2008 12:12 am (UTC)
No worries, it's a sensitive place for both of us.
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[info]neutronjockey wrote:
Jul. 3rd, 2008 01:13 am (UTC)
For a lot of people. And while not speaking for fledgist I have known him via the interwebs now for a couple of years (first from Making Light) ... he's a very thoughtful and well meaning person. I'm sure his words were meant more of encouragement to me -also a victim of rape - rather than an unempathic or dissociated statement.
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[info]renesears wrote:
Jul. 3rd, 2008 01:45 am (UTC)
It sucks that this is such a common experience. I'm really sorry that it happened to all of you.
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[info]grrlanimal wrote:
Jul. 3rd, 2008 04:55 am (UTC)
Thank you. Sorry for getting cranky on your journal.
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[info]brandypaulson wrote:
Jun. 26th, 2008 05:29 am (UTC)
Yeah I would say just kill em all. BUT you have to think what if the child first feels shame cause they got raped, then feels guilty because the person was then killed. As adults we may not feel like "Oh I am the cause of that person being killed" but children tend to feel like they were the cause of the rape in the first place, you know how kids are. So adding the death of that person directly associated with them, it's just too much for a kid to handle.
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[info]neutronjockey wrote:
Jun. 26th, 2008 08:17 am (UTC)
I just have a hard time thinking tax dollars are being spent on educating, reforming and reintroducing serial rapists back into society. These people (the guilty ones) are predators and have no place here.
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[info]sinthrex wrote:
Jun. 27th, 2008 05:17 am (UTC)
Completely agree.

I'm completely for a child rape = lifetime of hard labor law.

Which, if Louisiana has it's head on straight, is being drafted in their legislature right now.
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( 36 comments — Leave a comment )