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an allegorically alliterative american
Articles Posted: 29; Links Seeded: 161
Member Since: 1/2006
Member Since: 1/2006
12 Votes
14 Comments
Proposals to execute pedophiles make headway in US
News Type: Event — Seeded on Wed May 30, 2007 11:34 AM EDT
Article Source: Yahoo! Newsadvertisement
The idea of executing child rapists, even when there in no loss of life, is making headway in the United States.
The Louisiana Supreme Court last week upheld the death sentence for a pedophile, and the governor of Texas is soon to sign into law legislation to that effect.
In 1995, Louisiana was the first state to adopt legislation authorizing the death penalty for child rapists.
Ten years later, the movement to make pedophilia punishable by death really picked up steam after nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford was raped and buried alive in Florida by a man with a prior conviction for sex crimes.
Various versions of the "Jessica Law" sprang up all over in the country, imposing in most cases a minimum 25 year jail sentence and the wearing of an ankle bracelet for life for raping a child aged 12 or younger.
But in some states, elected officials amended their versions of the "Jessica Law" by adding the possibility of condemning a pedophile to death.
They include Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia and Montana.
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- Public Discussion (14)
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4.3
{"commentId":743909,"authorDomain":"geejay"}
Great.
Let's kill more and more...
{"commentId":743909,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"geejay"}
- 6 votes
#1 - Wed May 30, 2007 11:50 AM EDT{"commentId":743933,"authorDomain":"eco-geek"}
It sure seems to solve our problems in Iraq, might as well try it as a domestic policy too!
{"commentId":743933,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"eco-geek"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":743934,"authorDomain":"insert"}
Of course.
Never mind that the death penalty has been shown to have no deterrent effect, let's just blow 'em all up!
I would be inclined to believe that pedophilia is a mental condition, that should be treated through therapy, not "treated" through execution.
{"commentId":743934,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"insert"}
- 9 votes
{"commentId":744098,"authorDomain":"gwenny"}
I would be inclined to believe that pedophilia is a mental condition, that should be treated through therapy, not "treated" through execution.
A phenomenally high percentage of pedophiles were themselves molested. So killing them is penalizing them for the failure of their families and communities to protect them.
{"commentId":744098,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"gwenny"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":744181,"authorDomain":"insert"}
I never knew that. Makes loads of sense, though.
Further proof that this is a dumb idea...
{"commentId":744181,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"insert"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":745104,"authorDomain":"briannasmum"}
A phenomenally high percentage of pedophiles were themselves molested. So killing them is penalizing them for the failure of their families and communities to protect them.
No, killing them would be the punishment for perpetuating the curse. Just because a person was abused doesn't give them the right to become an abuser. I know people that were abused but they didn't become abusers. So why can they do it and others can't? And no, the few that I know did not get therapy. People need to really start taking responsibility for their actions. This "I had a bad childhood" only goes so far. And yes, I do feel sorry for those that it happened to but that doesn't give them any right to do it to others. If anything, they know how it feels therefore they should make doubly sure it doesn't happen to their children.
I am not trying to be harsh. I do have a lot of sympathy for people that were abused. I volunteer at a dentention center where most of the kids there were abused in some way and I work with them to make sure they don't become abusers themselves. And my heart does go out to these children. I have to draw the line at using it as an excuse for unacceptable behavior. We all have a choice in life for what we become.
{"commentId":745104,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"briannasmum"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":745129,"authorDomain":"insert"}
Right. Of course they are responsible for their actions, but they can learn to take better control of their actions and make better choices through therapy, not by killing them.
{"commentId":745129,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"insert"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":745185,"authorDomain":"gwenny"}
annasmum
I'm sorry. You are so right. We should not have any sympathy for choices people make based on their heritage, genetics and nurture. So I say, no more medical coverage of any sort for anyone whose parents had any disease that might be exacerbated by choices they make. Nevermind that they might be making choices at the point where they don't even realize they are choices, we all know people who have parents and grandparents with cancer, diabetes and heart disease who don't have it, so they must have chosen not to be ill. The rest of the people can just die.
{"commentId":745185,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"gwenny"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":746681,"authorDomain":"briannasmum"}
Nevermind that they might be making choices at the point where they don't even realize they are choices
Having a disease and perpetuating a crime because it was done to you is like comparing appples and oranges. Cancer, diabetes, and heart disease are not the same as abuse. A person chooses to become an abuser. People can't choose to have cancer.
You can try to prevent a disease all you want but there are times when you can't help genetics. A person may be a victim of abuse, which is a horrible thing, but that doesn't mean that person have to become an abuser. The old addage, do unto others applies here. I am not saying they don't deserve thearpy but either way, just because it happened to them doesn't mean they can/should do it to others.
{"commentId":746681,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"briannasmum"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":746713,"authorDomain":"juxtaposition"}
The assumption that pedophilia and histories of sexual abuse are linked is tenuous.
A psychiatric diagnosis of pedophilia merely indicates one's desires; not all pedophiles act on their urges and actually commit child sexual abuse. Plenty of sexual abuse of kids is committed by ordinary people not generally attracted to children.
One difficulty in treating pedophiles is that we know little about their condition. Could people become pedophiles because they were sexually victimized as kids? That theory makes common sense, but only one-third of pedophiles say they were abused.
{"commentId":746713,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"juxtaposition"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":746000,"authorDomain":"adamkemp"}
If execution is not a deterrent (news flash: it's not), then what is it for? Oh, right. Vengeance. What kind of society promotes vengeance as an official part of a system of justice?
{"commentId":746000,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"adamkemp"}
- 2 votes
#2 - Wed May 30, 2007 11:41 PM EDT{"commentId":746095,"authorDomain":"spiffie"}
I can list them on one hand: 1) fundamentalist.
{"commentId":746095,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"spiffie"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":746561,"authorDomain":"softfacts"}
The only problem I see here is that America's current methods for carrying out the death sentence are stale and boring. The electric chair? Lethal injection? Snoozarama. How about we get some of those flesh-eating pigs like the guy in that awful Silence of the Lambs sequel had?
{"commentId":746561,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"softfacts"}
- 3 votes
#3 - Thu May 31, 2007 9:00 AM EDT{"commentId":747870,"authorDomain":"framed"}
These laws are really a response to sensationalist media coverage of pedophilia cases. People are just not built to make rational decisions when a perceived risk is both rare and novel, check out this article by Bruce Schneir on the topic. We release thieves, drunk drivers, rapists, and sometimes even murderers. All of these people are more dangerous to your children than your typical chester molester. The lack of proportionality here is not healthy at all.
There's just not evidence to suggest that molesters are significantly more dangerous when released when compared to other released felons. Statistics from the department of justice:
Within 3 years of release from prison:
3.3% of child molesters were rearrested for molestation
2.2% of non-molester sex offenders were rearrested for molestation
0.4% of the entire set of released criminals were rearrested for molestation
43% of sex offenders were rearrested in total (any criminal charge)
68% of non-sex offenders were rearrested in total (any criminal charge)
In general you can fairly say offender type X is more likely than other criminals to recommit crime type X, but overall its a misconception to believe that sex offenders re-molest frequently or that they are rearrested more often than other criminals.
{"commentId":747870,"threadId":"108629","contentId":"746767","authorDomain":"framed"}
- 3 votes
#4 - Thu May 31, 2007 4:27 PM EDT{"canLink":false,"threadId":"108629","isPrivate":false}
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