Monday, June 11, 2007

Life & Death

So Texas is considering passing a bill that reserves the death penalty for people who rape children under age 6 at least twice, or children younger than 14 if the crime also involves the use of a deadly weapon, alcohol or drugs, death threats, bodily injury, kidnapping or gang rape. It's expected that Gov. Rick Perry will sign the bill into law.

Last August I served as a juror during the sentencing phase of a horrific child abuse case. The step-father of a beautiful little girl had done things to her that no person (especially a child) should ever have to suffer. All the more horrific due to her mother not only initiating it but also participating. I had trouble sleeping for weeks afterward and was an emotional wreck for a few days. If only the same could be said for her. She was abused over the course of at least three years (starting at the age of five) and will forever be traumatized.

Did this man deserve the death penalty? It wasn't even an option in this case, the maximum being life (which we gave him). From what I've heard, though, people who harm children have a rough go of it in prison if the other inmates find out. In other words, they don't last that long.

While the inmates may enforce their own death penalty, I think allowing a child molestor to be sentenced to death through the courts would be far too traumatic for a child. In most cases, the victim knows or is related to their attacker. It's likely the victim would feel responsible for that person's death, which couldn't help their already fragile condition.

I personally don't like the death penalty. I think self defense is just about the only condonable form of killing. However, I wanted to nothing more than to sentence that man to death. Something tells me that her daddy being killed (no matter how much he hurt her) would only do more harm than good.

So what are your thoughts? Should the death penalty be an option on certain child molestation cases?

2 comments:

danny/ink2metal said...

100% yes! in extreme cases like what you have outlined. i think that once that kind of trauma has been infliceted on a child, the perpetrator has murdered/killed that child's future just the same as if the child was actually murdered/killed. and having that person, whether related or not to the child, put to death cannot damage what little there is left of that child's self-esteem and hopes for a positive future.

i'm not religious, but god bless the children that suffer such inhumanities.

GayProf said...

I don't believe in the death penalty under any circumstances. The courts should be about justice, not vengeance.