"The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child"

[Tex]

So says Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in yet another 5-4 decision.

It's hard for me not to just be thoroughly disgusted with that statement.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080625/..._co/scotus_rdp

[Tex]

A snippet from the Alito's dissent:

The Court today holds that the Eighth Amendment categorically prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for the crime of raping a child. This is so, according to the Court, no matter how young the child, no matter how many times the child is raped, no matter how many children the perpetrator rapes, no matter how sadistic the crime, no matter how much physical or psychological trauma is inflicted, and no matter how heinous the perpetrator’s prior criminal record may be. The Court provides two reasons for this sweeping conclusion: First, the Court claims to have identified “a national consensus” that the death penalty is never acceptable for the rape of a child;second, the Court concludes, based on its “independent judgment,” that imposing the death penalty for child rape is inconsistent with “‘the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.’”

I especially like that first reason, the "national consensus." How many of you are comfortable with 9 judges (or 5, actually) making decisions about what constitutes a "national consensus" about something?

[Tex]

One more snippet. Here's National Review's Ed Whelan summarizing the details of the crime that precipitated this decision:

Warning: The facts are graphic and awful. Kennedy (not the justice) was charged with the aggravated rape of L.H., his then-8-year-old stepdaughter. When police found L.H. some two hours after the attack, she was bleeding profusely from the vaginal area. She was transported to the hospital, where she was discovered to have a laceration to the left wall of the vagina that “separated her cervix from the back of her vagina, causing her rectum to protrude into the vaginal structure. Her entire perineum was torn from the posterior fourchette to the anus. The injuries required emergency surgery.” Shortly after he committed the rape, Kennedy called a colleague to ask “how to get blood out of a white carpet because his daughter had ‘just become a lady.’”

This just makes me furious.

[MikeWaters]

In general, I am uncomfortable with the crime of rape being a captial offence.

Why? Because of the frequency of false claims and wrongful convictions.

Of course, I am more of a civil libertarian than about 99% of the people here.

[Indy Coug]

RHETORICAL QUESTION, SO DON'T GO INTO GRAPHIC DETAIL

Tex, what level of sexual contact is necessary to warrant a death sentence? Even if perchance this specific instance is sufficient, where is the line drawn on from the inappropriate touching of clothed children to the violent assault in this case?

I think limiting capital punishment to homicides may be the appropriate stance to take.

[SeattleUte]

The death penalty is just plain a travesty. I wish I could just call it ridiculous. Were the issue not so grave that would be the most accurate adjective.

[Tex]

The Court's opinion re-iterates the conditions for aggravated rape, which is what this man was charged with. I'll include the link below. You can decide if the law is just or not. A separate question is whether the Court's reasoning in this case is sound, which I agree with Alito, it's not.

As you may have gathered, it's hard for me to read the facts of this case and not agree with it.

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-343.pdf

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

RHETORICAL QUESTION, SO DON'T GO INTO GRAPHIC DETAIL

Tex, what level of sexual contact is necessary to warrant a death sentence? Even if perchance this specific instance is sufficient, where is the line drawn on from the inappropriate touching of clothed children to the violent assault in this case?

I think limiting capital punishment to homicides may be the appropriate stance to take.

That a false accusation from a boy scout might lead to a trial for a capital offense I think would be very scary for many men in the church called to be in scouting. It's already scary enough that a false accusation can destroy your life, without the death penalty in the picture.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

That a false accusation from a boy scout might lead to a trial for a capital offense I think would be very scary for many men in the church called to be in scouting. It's already scary enough that a false accusation can destroy your life, without the death penalty in the picture.

Black men have a similar fear about being falsely accused and charged of crimes in general, including capital crimes, because of their skin color, in places like Louisiana and Texas.

[Tex]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

That a false accusation from a boy scout might lead to a trial for a capital offense I think would be very scary for many men in the church called to be in scouting. It's already scary enough that a false accusation can destroy your life, without the death penalty in the picture.

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Black men have a similar fear about being falsely accused and charged of crimes in general, including capital crimes, because of their skin color, in places like Louisiana and Texas.

How about the details of this particular case? Doesn't seem to have any Boy Scouts or (specifically) black men involved here.