Death penalty: murderers only
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"It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."
-- Luke 17:2, The New Testament
The U.S. Supreme Court listened to arguments last week on whether a Louisiana man who raped his 8-year-old stepdaughter should receive the death penalty. Patrick Kennedy was sentenced to death for the crime. Louisiana is one of five states that include death as a penalty for child rape.
Once, rape was a capital offense in some states. In the fictitious "To Kill a Mockingbird," a black man in Alabama is sentenced to death after being convicted of raping a young woman. In 1977, the Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for raping an adult, but was silent on whether raping a child warranted death.
Ironically, child-rape arguments were held on the same day the high court released a decision allowing lethal injection to be used to administer the death penalty. There had been no death sentences for several months while that case was deliberated. Executions are expected to resume soon.
Supporters of the death penalty for child rape argue that the horror of the crime, the violence inflicted and the trauma to an innocent mind are so great that execution is not unreasonable. Opponents argue that it is a cruel and unusual punishment for a crime. They also argue that not enough states have enacted that severe a punishment for the high court to sanction it.
There is no doubt that child rape is among the most terrible of crimes. We agree strongly with the biblical scripture expressed above. Perpetrators have forfeited their right to freedom. They should expect to never leave prison. We urge lawmakers to take steps to guarantee that child rape is an offense that carries a life sentence without hope of parole.
However, we do not believe that the crime should carry a penalty of death. Execution should be reserved for heinous crimes that result in the loss of life. Murder should be the chief reason a criminal receives the death penalty. Death is too harsh a penalty for the criminal who does not kill his or her victim -- even if that victim is a child.
If the high court refuses to allow Louisiana to execute child rapists, it will not deny justice. Kennedy and other similar criminals will appropriately remain caged for the rest of their lives.
Reader Comments
Some crimes deserve the death penalty!
Child rape is one of them..The childs life is messed up for the remander of it. A low life that does this is even low in the eyes of the other criminals in prison, they sometimes kill child molesters themselves when they are found out in prison. If it was my child or grand child I'd like to see the death penalty for this sort of crime.
The death penalty should be for murders only.