It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
(visit the link for the full news article)
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law that allows the execution of people convicted of a raping a child.
ADVERTISEMENT
In a 5-4 vote, the court says the law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in cases of child rape violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
"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.
There has not been an execution in the United States for a crime that did not also involve the death of the victim in 44 years.
Originally posted by CallMeMaury
Also, you must wonder. If the person knows they stand to get the death penalty when they rape a child, they have no incentive to leave the child alive. Same punishment, no witness.
A raped child is better off than a dead child.
Originally posted by BlackOps719
reply to post by CallMeMaury
To be clear, I was not saying that a child would be better off dead.
When I said "Im not so sure about that" I was referring to the point that you made about death no being a deterrant for pedophiles. Im not sure it would cause predators to kill the victims at any higher rate. I think the prospect of facing death if caught could actually impact the criminal mind in a way that would prevent him from offending at all.
Overall, follow-up studies typically find sexual recidivism rates of 10%-15% after five years, 20% after 10 years, and 30%-40% after 20 years (see, Hanson, Morton, & Harris, 2003). However, these numbers are conservative because not all offences are detected.