Supreme Court rejects death penalty for child rape cases

Originally posted by DuneKnight
i dont know what i can add more to this thread, but i just feel that the justice system is becoming more lenient.

and also everyone should take into account the fact that prisons are getting overcrowded already where many are getting out who otherwise would've spent a great deal of time in prison if it weren't for that. I also think its offensive to the victim to treat the case as a mundane one, saying that 'there is too many of them to kill?' isnt gonna help the victim much.

people must understand that the death penalty not only scares child rapists but also is a means to prevent the rapist from garnering forgiveness, or accept that God forgave him; which is an inevitable mental state when one is given alot of time dealing with nothing in his head but the crime he committed; that might seem like a good thing but it aint since the end result will always be forgiveness and would lead him to a happy guilt free living if he ever got out, he might actually choose to forget about his past crimes.

also lets not forget that prison isnt that bad, he the rapist shares the same cell as drug addicts and with a kid who stole stuff so really he gets fed and its not like he is treated like a slave in prison, he might actually like it there. death penalty is a good way of saying to rapists that their lives mean nothing to us and they are worthless beings that shouldve not been born in the first place, in fact we are just reversing their existence. part of me wants to see them cry before dying but i know this aint relevant.


[edit on 26-6-2008 by DuneKnight]

I agree prison isnt that bad,well here in the Uk anyway,i would like a hard labour prison where you pay your way instead of people spending money to keep you..i dont know what exactly,but something hard and unforgiving with food rations.Thats far more a punishment than death or time in your cell with a ps3,tv, smokes,pool table etc etc PLUS rehabilitation,there is a debate in the uk right now as to what prison should be a punsihment or rehabilitation,i follow the rehabilitation route.Especially wehn it comes to paedophiles,drug addicts etc because most of the time they leave and commit another crime.If support was there in prison and after to keep them on the right path i think this would be far more effective than simply killing them...

reply to post by Lethil





You would probably like one of our American law enforcement figures, his name is Joe Arpaio and he is the sherriff of Maricopa County Arizona.

He is considered to be the toughest Sherriff in America. Some of his more famous tactics are not allowing inmates to swear, not allowing television or radio (except he makes them watch Disney movies) he forces inmates to wear pink underwear and old fashioned chain gang pin stripes clothes, and he feeds them a daily diet of green balogna sandwiches.

They are forced to sleep in tent cities in the Arizona desert with no air conditioning, where the temperature reaches above 110 degrees during the day. He also makes the inmates work to earn money to help pay for their own stay.

Since Arpaio became Sherriff the return rate for inmates in his county has dropped by nearly half, and inmates hate it there so much they refuse to be arrested again for fear of going back.

Now THAT is how criminals should be treated. Im not sure exactly when prison became a day spa/country club, but the world needs more Sherriff Joe's out there.

Execute all child rapists with extreme prejudice.

There's really no reason not to.

reply to post by BlackOps719


What most of the posters on this thread completely forget is the child.

Most children are raped by family members.

Imagine the reluctance to implicate a family member knowing that they could be put to death.

If the court allowed the execution, it would only serve to keep more rapists underground because, based on the fact that most children who are molested are done so by family members. Most family members today have a hard enough time implicating one of their own as a molester, there would be even less convictions if the death penalty was instituted for them.

I understand most people here are thinking with their anger, but that gets us nowhere. You have to think what the impact is, and it does not deter the crime, but deters victims from implicating the criminal.


But you just go on with your death mongering. I'll side with the Amish.

[edit on 26-6-2008 by Quazga]

Originally posted by slackerwire
Execute all child rapists with extreme prejudice.

There's really no reason not to.

Actually if you read my above post, there are many reasons not to. At least if you are interested in getting convictions for child molesters.

reply to post by BlackOps719



Sounds like you support the governments ability to do whatever they deem necessary?

You might as well have a Hitler 08 bumper sticker.

Originally posted by BlackOps719

"The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion.

At least Justice Kennedy got that much right.

In such a situation, the young victim has to carry the baggage of the crime for the rest of their life. Where does one even begin in determining a "proportional punishment"?

I'm somewhere between "Death is too good" and "Let God sort them out". Regardless, those who'd commit such a crime need to be permanently removed from society, dead or alive. Even the lowest of animals are above molesting their young.

reply to post by Quazga




I am not all for the government doing whatever they want, but I am all for dealing out the harshest punishments allowed by law against people who make a conscious choice to damage and abuse a child. Sorry you can't see the fundamental difference. I am relieved that we have law makers who see fit to punish the ones who so seriously deserve it.


And you can pretend to be Amish all you want, but here in the real world there are nasty and hateful people who don't play by your cupcake rules. See how "Amish" you would be if some low life sex offender who is out on parole decides to take your child off of a playground and rape or murder them.

My guess is you would be a lot of things, but Amish probably isn't one of them

reply to post by BlackOps719


There is a huge difference between what an angry father might be inclined to do and what the gov should be allowed to do.

You can't legislate out of anger and expect the law to be just.

reply to post by BlackOps719


I think that the punishment for child rape should not be death. It should be a lifetime of being raped. This would be appropriately balanced with the destruction of the child, who will suffer for a lifetime due to rape. Hand the basta***s over to the roughest horniest inmates around and let them have the rapist, no holds barred. For life. IMO.

reply to post by CallMeMaury


The thing about castration is they only lose their nuts, but with hormone therapy they can still achieve erections. Lots of good that would do.

Lorena Bobbit syndrome anyone?

Just a bump to update this thread with some new data.

On July 2, 1976, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty is not inherently cruel or unusual.

www.usconstitution.net...

In Court Ruling on Executions, a Factual Flaw

A military law blog pointed out over the weekend that Congress, in fact, revised the sex crimes section of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 2006 to add child rape to the military death penalty. The revisions were in the National Defense Authorization Act that year. President Bush signed that bill into law and then, last September, carried the changes forward by issuing Executive Order 13447, which put the provisions into the 2008 edition of the Manual for Courts-Martial.

www.nytimes.com...

A research error by the SCOTUS?

It will be interesting to see if this error is even addressed by the Justices.


Meanwhile:

Fla. executes child rapist, killer

www.usatoday.com...

Schwab raped and killed Junny a month after he was released early from a prison sentence he got for raping a 13-year-old boy. The case led to Florida's Junny Rios-Martinez Act of 1992, which prohibits sex offenders from early release from prison or getting credit for good behavior.

Schwab stalked the boy after seeing his photo in a newspaper for winning a kite contest.

Although Schwab claimed another man had made him kidnap and rape the boy, he was able to lead police to a footlocker in rural Brevard County where Junny's nude body was discovered.

Schwab was the 10th person executed in the United States since the Supreme Court's Kentucky ruling and the 65th inmate to be executed since Florida resumed capital punishment in 1979.

It seems that in Florida if you commit this atrocity a second time and then also murder the victim they will excercise a state's right to reduce the chances of recidivism for repeat offenders.

Google Video Link

[edit on 7/3/08 by BlackOps719]

The thing is about prison is its like a holiday camp, what a joke... the criminals are protected by the law and human rights crap but the victims do not have rights.. if you commit a serious crime like rape of a child or murder you should be punished in every way possible, jail should mean total isolation from humans, a small cell with a toilet and nooo windows.. sounds cruel but i think if you rape or kill someone that should be the punishment you recieve!

Originally posted by greeneyedleo

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.

Just because someone rapes a child does not mean that they are murderers too. They are 2 different crimes. That would be like saying a murderer would probably rape if he knew that there was a death penalty attached to murder. "Might as well do all kinds of crimes since im going to die anyways". That is not how it generally works.

And most child rapists dont think they will get caught anyways. So, I dont think they are having rational thoughts in the head "well, since I will probably get caught and fried to death, I might as well murder too."

You are completely wrong, if you would have read further down you would have seen I answered this. And this is why the little girl in Florida was buried alive. The guy was afraid of the death penalty. And he stated this when they questioned him.

Futher more some of you people are discusting. You need to get counceling for your abuse / problem. When you go into details about penis etc... All Im seeing is someone in need of a psychiatrist. I cant even finish reading the thread because Its making me gag.



[edit on 20-7-2008 by Memysabu]

I'm in the minority here, but as a person who's totally against the death penalty, I think it's a good move.

They just stopped the American genocide.

Think about it. Something like 25% of the population has been molested at some point or another. Sadly, this crime is very common, far more common than murder. I'd say somewhere between 1% and 2% of people are guilty of it.

If this got the death penalty, it would lead to a holocaust. Thousands of innocent and guilty people executed, and the pedophiles like stated before would just kill their victims to cover their crimes.

It was a terrible idea, it would make our death penalty WAY bigger if it happened, and it would only make the victims feel worse. I can guarantee you if murder was as common as molestation, people would think it was worse.

That said, pedophiles are sick sociopaths, and should get life sentences WAY more often.