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The Supreme Penalty for Rape

We are witnessing either a burgeoning new trend for executing rapists—or the last gasps of capital punishment.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case about whether—for the first time in decades—a criminal can be executed for a crime that isn't murder. Patrick Kennedy was convicted in 2004 for the rape of a child, his 8-year-old stepdaughter, and the state of Louisiana contends that his crime is tantamount to murder and worthy of death. Nobody in this country has actually been executed for anything other than murder since 1964, although five states, including Louisiana, have laws on their books permitting capital punishment for the rape of young children. Several others are considering broadening their laws to do the same. So the court must determine, in Kennedy v. Louisiana, whether the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment bars the execution of someone who didn't commit a murder, but did violate a young child.

Capital punishment in America has been in a slow decline for years, with "slow" being the key word. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, which compiles national statistics on capital punishment, the number of executions has dropped steadily since 1998, hitting a 10-year low of 53 in 2006. Confidence in the death penalty has also dipped slightly: a Gallup poll taken in 2006 showed that while two thirds of Americans endorsed capital punishment for murderers, given the choice between the death penalty and a life sentence without parole, slightly more preferred life in prison, for the first time in decades. This dip has been attributed to a number of factors: the reported 127 death-row exonerations now logged by the DPIC, books by the likes of John Grisham and pervasive evidence that racism still taints the capital-sentencing system.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131773

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{ The rape of a child is a horrible thing as is the murder of a child or anyone else for that matter. I believe lots of people deserve to die for the horrible crimes they commit but that doesn't mean we have to kill them. For me Capital Punishment is a moral issue above all else. I think killing is morally wrong. The state should not be murdering it's own citizens and we should not allow executions to be carried out in our names.

Many disagree with me of course and that's fine. There are many ways of looking at the issue. I have never understood why Christians would support the Death Penalty seeing as their God was a victim of it? I can't understand why some would call for the executions of people who are obviously insane or mentally retarded. The execution of minors is killing children. All this has been done.

Is all this simply "revenge"?

Do crimes like rape deserve the death Penalty? Should any crime other then murder even be considered for the death penalty? What about tried and convicted terrorists.............should they be executed? Traitors.....would you kill them? Do you ever think about the moral aspects of capital punishment?

Where do you draw the line? Do you think the death penalty will eventually be banned in America? Would you support a ban?

What do you think?}

Rose

I for one believe in the death penalty; yet not in the way it is administered today. If the death penalty were carried out ina somewhat quicker manner, it would be more of a deterrent to crime.

Frankly, I think we've become to worried the small chance someone could be innocent. Don't get me wrong, the evidence must always be clear convict, and circumstantial evidence is weak at best. But in cases where there's no doubt, the death penalty is fine with me.

A word about being wrong: Yes, there has been some justified concern that we might put to death innocent people and that in and of itself is a horrible tragedy that must end. But, the further advancment of science mkes that less and less possible every day.

Rape, whether it's an 8 yr old girl, or a 25 yr. old woman is also a horrible crime. Yes, when you hear in the news of of some scumbag who raped a little girl, my first thought is "hang em".....but then again, I'm, from Texas.where a lot of us believe hangings in the town square would, over time, do wonders in lowering the rate of crime.

A man who rapes a little girl is something less than human and I wouldn't lose any sleep if he were sentenced to death. On the other hand, where would the death penalty be stopped.....i.e. would you use it for only rapes of little ones or for the big grown ups as well. And again, then what would be the next crime that we'd say deserves the death penalty. Personally I don't know if you can open this door and ever close it.

Rapists tend to get their just desserts in prison anyway where rapsits are hated by the general prison population. I think I'd leaveit the way it is....a prison sentence and some torture once they get there.

China leads world in executions, report finds

Iran second, U.S. fourth; Amnesty cites concern over secrecy, children killed

LONDON - China executed more people than any other country in the world last year by putting at least 470 people to death, but the number of executions in the country actually fell compared to the year before, Amnesty International said.

In its annual report on worldwide executions, the human rights group said Tuesday that Iran remains the country with the second highest number of executions, and that the number had nearly doubled from the year before. The 377 inmates included a man stoned to death for committing adultery.

The United States was fifth in the rankings with 42 executions, reflecting a drop in the number of people put to death during the year. That was the lowest number of executions in the United States in about 15 years, Amnesty officials said. However, lethal injection executions have been on hold nationally while the U.S. Supreme Court considers a challenge in a case from Kentucky.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24121932/

{ What great company we keep.}

Rose

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