Sunday, April 13, 2008

Is murder worse than rape?

The U.S Supreme Court is considering it we should allow the death penalty when the crime is child rape.  Since I'm not a supporter of the death penalty for any crime, considering expanding its use for child rape seems wrong. 

The U.S. Supreme Court this week hears arguments about whether the death penalty can be imposed for child rape, taking up for the first time in more than 30 years whether a crime other than murder can be punished by execution.

The nation's highest court has set arguments on Wednesday on whether the death penalty for the crime of raping a child represents unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.

Source: Court to consider death penalty for child rape | U.S. | Reuters

A long hard prison sentence in the general population is the answer.

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, a long hard prison sentence in the general population is the answer if the general population knows why the sick bastard is in jail in the first place... And then one can only hope he's not sent to prison an innocent man. That last bit is also one of the many reasons I oppose the death penalty - it can't be reversed if it turns out the killed 'crook' was innocent.

Anonymous said...

GenPop is the equivalent of a death sentence for child rapists/molesters. Long sentences are better, even if the offender must be held in solitary and the guards have to be told "let anyone get close to shiv him and you'll be looking for a new job."

Then there's lifelong parole / rehab (if available).

These guys cost a lot of money and time. But if we want to consider ourselves a civilized society then we have to pay the price. If we go the easy way -- fry 'em and forget 'em -- then we're doomed.

Anonymous said...

If the rape ends in murder, kill the damn bastard.

If the rape does not, and the victim turns out physically ok in the end -- minus the whole sex thing -- castrate the damn bastard. It's time to go old-school in punishment again. Because we went humanitarian on criminals, that's why our crime rate is the amongst the highest in the world. Third world countries have lower crime rates per person because they keep the old ways.

Johnny C said...

I too am personally against the death penalty. However if it were my kid, I would want nothing more than the skin the bastard alive...

Of course for me there is a conflicting nature in me that wants to see those asswipes to be tortured and made to suffer as much as humanly possible. Let them WISH for death, thus either turning them into a shell or allowing them to do to themselves what many wanted to do.

But then again.. Sanctity in life and all that. Don't let me make the laws. I know not what I would do.

Vivian said...

The biggest problem I see resulting from a law like this is, if homicide and child rape are given the same punishment of execution, then it could potentially lead future child rapists to kill the child at the end of the rape (since child rape and murder have the same sentence), when they would have otherwise left the child alive.
Think about it: why not kill the child as well if you are going to get the death sentence either way?

Thus, what could possibly result from a law like this is not a decrease in child rapes, but an increase in child rapes which end with murder - which is quite obviously worse, because if the victim is DEAD, they have no chance of recovery at all, unlike rape where there IS a chance of recovery and going on to lead a happy life.