The US Supreme Court invalidated part of a Louisiana statute that made aggravated assault against a child under 12 a capital offense. In a 5-4 ruling, it has been considered “constitutionally impermissible” for a person-on-person violent crime that does not result in the death of a victim. The ruling results from the Kennedy v. Louisiana case.
As we all know (consciously or subconsciously), the courtroom is a scary place, resembling a Vegas casino. How you walk out of there after a night of gambling partially depends on how well each player plays the game and the rest of it depends on luck. Each case is different and while murderers can get five seconds, five years, six years (??), embezzlement can land someone in the big house for fifteen plus. Like I said, it all depends. What seems to remain a constant, however, is the law’s misrepresentation of children. Murder an adult, you run the risk of the death sentence. Murder a child, the cards aren’t nearly as stacked up against you.
And what about rape? Statistically, one pedophile will rape 300 children. Factually, pedophiles, as stated in the American Psychological Association’s DSM IV will never be able to stop. Therefore, probation and rehabilitation don’t logically apply to a child molester/rapist. But in the court of law they definitely do, illogically.
What about the victim? Children who are raped suffer irreversible damages that alter their entire lives in a negative way. Recovery is life-long and a highly painful process. The debate now is when and if a child molester stands in front of the court of law, is the death sentence a possibility?
With murder, it is possible. Child rape, on the other hand, now that’s a whole other story. Why? Because murder is permanent, thus, viewed as more heinous. However, so are the after-affects resulting from a rape. Life is taken away just as innocence is taken away. Family members forever mourn their loved one who was killed and family members mourn the child they knew before the rape occurred. And without any way of doing longitudinal studies on what the young rape victims become versus what they would have become had the rape never happened, the rape case loses validity. Juvenile halls, prisons, rehabs, mental hospitals and other crisis centers; however, are filled with people who were sexually victimized as children — a slow death in some ways, wouldn’t you say?
The moral of this story is that the death sentence should be an option in Louisiana, not just for the murderers who stand in front of a judge but for the rapists of children, as well.
According to Justice Anthony Kennedy, “the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child.”
It began over the case against Patrick Kennedy, who was convicted and sentenced to die for raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter in 1998. According to medical reports, her injuries were extensive and severe. Surgery was required to stop the bleeding.
While the young girl will forever live with the terrible memories of what she had endured, her rapist will no longer pay the ultimate price for it nor shall any other child rapist in Louisiana.
“The incongruity between the crime of child rape and the harshness of the death penalty poses risks of over-punishment and counsels against a constitutional ruling that the death penalty can be expanded to include this offense,” wrote Justice Kennedy.
Ben Cohen of the Capital Appeals Project in Louisiana, who also worked on the rapist’s case for years, stated that in addition to his former client, a second man, Richard Davis, was also on death row in Louisiana for child rape but will now be resentenced.
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August 11th, 2008 at 1:41 am
August 12th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
October 15th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Thats was a really interesting post, i really like your block I have added it to my favourites – keep up the good work!
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:49 am
My sister’s kid’s ( 9yrs and 1 yr old at the time) were taken from her and given to me because her husband, the 1 yr old’s father, molested the 9 yr old. after two years of court the judge made me their legal guardian. (the courts seem to have forgotten what happened to the 9 yr old because her husband was never put in jail) now after a year our lawyer called me and sayed my sister talked to the judge and is filing an appeal. and we have to be in court in less than a week. the kid’s are now 12yrs old and 4 yrs old. we went to court thursday and the judge ruled the 12 yr old stays with me but the 4 yr old has to go back with my sister. they were supposed to pay child support to me -$50 for each child- since i had them i never received any support from her, her husband, or the state. and the judge ruled since i put them on my income tax that would cover their back child support. OCS, the D.A., the 12 yr old’s theripist, -basicly everyone involved with the case thinks both kids should stay in my care. my sister has stated MANY times in front of OCS, lawyers, and the judge that she does not want the 12 yr old because “he’s lying”. and the 12 yr old sayed the mother had knowledge of the molestation
the morning after court i called her and asked if we could at least see the 4 yr old. she sayed no. my lawyer is helping me file for adoption of the 12 yr old.
What rights do i have as an aunt to see him?
what rights does his brother have?i live in louisiana. they live in arkansas. they said the reason he wasn’t arrested is because the complaint was made in Louisiana not in arkansas.every bit is documented thru OCS and thru my lawyer. but the problem is before the court they divorced- it’s just a strategy she even asked the judge if it was ok for them to get back together.this judge only has about two weeks left to retire, and we heard he was trying to close out all of his cases. workers at OCS told us that judge always makes bad decions- some kids he has returned to parents got killed on count of neglect.the husband was asked directly if there was any molestation or rape in his family and he said no. we found out his father just got out of prison serving 10 to 12 years for molesting his two grandkids- both minors.
November 4th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Wow Someone Else, that is really hard to hear that our system has let us and especially the children down in an instance like this. I commend you for taking responsibility on trying to make sure that these children are raised correctly. That is a very admirable trait. Although I am not a professional in that field I will take a few minutes to try and find out some resources for you.
Hope Everything turns out for the best.
November 10th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Any updates with those email links someone else?
Did they help you out at all?
January 25th, 2009 at 12:15 am
Why this web site do not have other languages support?
January 29th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Work and Travel:
Thanks for checking out the site!! As far as why we don’t publish in different languages…. that’s a good question! What language are you inclined to? There are a couple different sites that can translate a web page for you but the one that I like to use the most is Babelfish… check it out.
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
Copy and paste the URL, select the language you want to translate to, and hit the translate button!!
Thanks for the input!
March 12th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Hello. Great job. I did not expect to come across this on a Friday. This is a great story. Thanks!
March 12th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you
March 13th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Good stuff thanx
March 26th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Good Stuff???????
April 20th, 2009 at 1:24 am
I strongly recommend that you turn the No Follow off in your comment section.
I’ll watch Google Webmaster Tools, and if the links don’t show up after a couple of weeks — I won’t go back to that blog again.
Another suggestion: you should have a Top Commentator widget installed.
Do Follow and Top Commentator will ensure that you have a successful blog with lots of readers!
May 1st, 2009 at 5:18 pm
I think we are good the way we are. Thanks for the input though.