Texas lawmakers OK death for child rape

[dogday]

AUSTIN, Texas --Texas sex offenders who are twice convicted of raping children under 14 could get the death penalty under a bill state lawmakers approved Friday.

The state House passed Texas' version of "Jessica's Law," a crackdown on sex offenders who prey on children, a day after the Senate approved it.

The bill is named for Jessica Lunsford, a Florida girl who was abducted and killed. More than a dozen states have passed versions of Jessica's Law.

Gov. Rick Perry has said he was open to the idea of the death penalty in child sex cases and that passage of a child sex offender bill is a legislative emergency. Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said the governor will wait to read the final version of the bill before deciding whether to sign it into law.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/05/18/texas_lawmakers_ok_death_for_child_rape/

[liberalnurse]

1. Now where talking!

Yes.....they are an abomination. Lock-n-Load!

[gaspee]

2. Wow

Texas is really running with the death penalty. While other states are doing away with it, Texas is adding more to it.

I wouldn't support the death penalty for rape -- but I'm against the death penalty unless the person confesses and requests it instead of life without parol.

Now, physical (as opposed to chemical) castration; that I could maybe support.

[Canuckistanian]

24. Remind me never to jaywalk in Texas

Or even to rip that tag off the mattress.

[tammywammy]

35. Isn't the joke

While other states are holding off on the death penalty, Texas is putting in an express lane.

[jwirr]

3. Now if we can just get all those pugs we been hearing about to

move to Texas.

[seemslikeadream]

4. maybe they want to start with these guys

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2852147

[CBGLuthier]

5. stupid stupid stupid

So now, if you have the one conviction and do it again you will have no reason NOT to kill your victim in order to increase the chances of not being caught.

Can't these people think things through?

[rasputin1952]

9. No, they do not think, and that is part of the problem...

Life w/o parole is always better than the DP, just in case you get the wrong person, or an overly zealous DA pushes fake evidence.

Castration is out as well, Cruel and Unusual punishment.

The main thing is to increase the penalty for the FIRST incident. There is NO reason why anyone, much less a child, has to go through the trauma of being violated like that. Convicts that have attacked children are not accepted into the normal prison population, it is a dangerous thing to be a child molester/rapist in prison.

Please...keep an eye on the kids in your neighborhood, we all have to come together to wipe this scourge off the map...:(

[Mark_Pogue]

13. Best suggestion!

"Please...keep an eye on the kids in your neighborhood, we all have to come together to wipe this scourge off the map... :("

Child rape will never go away. Parents keeping closer tabs on their kids is the best deterrent.

[Iris]

18. castration should be out because it doesn't work.

At least not the chemical variety. The rage and tendency are still there so the violence comes out in other forms.

[BlooInBloo]

10. Well given that "because it's grossly wrong" doesn't dissuade sex offenders in the first place...

... I don't know how much I'd worry about *other* things not dissuading them.

[noamnety]

14. one more stupid

juries will be less likely to convict if they oppose the death penalty, knowing that's a possible outcome. More people will end up walking without any consequences at all.

I'd rather see them up the conviction rate, and up the penalties so that we don't have white republican judges getting 10 years probation for molesting a 10 year old girl, when we all know if a black homeless guy had done the same thing, they'd have locked him up for a nice long time.

[aikoaiko]

6. Get caught for raping not one but TWO kids.... sure DP is a good option

this one is easy.

[NC_Nurse]

7. Geez, how about life sentences with no parole?

Just in case, you know, the person is innocent or something???

DEath is so permanent....

[MnFats]

8. I for one am saddened by ANY expansion of capitol punishment...

..it is barbarism.
We're in good company among the last few nations that execute (kill) people.....China, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Iran.....wait a minute that list sounds a lot like the axis of.....oh, never mind....

[Madspirit]

11. Texan Here

I am so ashamed of my state when it comes to the death penalty. I just posted a long article today from Amnesty International about how, not only is the death penalty obviously barbaric it does not deter. If there is ANY way but death to stop someone, it is a moral responsibility to do so. Otherwise, we're just killers.
Lee

[Mark_Pogue]

12. Kill, kill, kill !

So now if someone rapes a child, there is NO incentive to allow the child to live.

I'm sure this will curb child rape/molestation.:sarcasm:

[VelmaD]

15. This law is a nightmare...

The penalty for a first offense is so severe that many child victim advocacy organizations are opposed to it because they believe (and I agree) that it will encourage people to kill their victims and it is a disencentive for people to turn in those who prey on children within their own families. If grampa rapes little Bobby...you have to decide whether you want to send him to jail for 20+ years.

[rasputin1952]

25. For me, this would not be a tough choice...

"If grampa rapes little Bobby...you have to decide whether you want to send him to jail for 20+ years."

Yep, Gramps has to go, no question in my mind, I'd turn him in instantly. NO adult, (or anyone else), has the "right" to abuse a child, regardless of where they are in the family tree. Child abuse, whether beating the child, neglecting the child of sexually abusing the child is reprehensible, there is NO excuse for this, it is one of the lowest forms a human can be.

[VelmaD]

28. While I agree with you totally...

it's already often difficult to get people to turn in their own family members for this kind of crime. Knowing they could get 20+ years in prison or even the death penalty is only going to make it more difficult.

[rasputin1952]

41. The thing about the DP is that it never discouraged those

that do such things from doing them in the first place...if it did, this stuff would have ended eons ago. Having them in prison, recalling why they are there is far better than just killing someone. The DP is nothing more tan a savage way people have found to justify their bloodlust.

Family members should NEVER tolerate this type of thing in their families in the first place.

I don't think that many of these type of offenders can be rehabilitated, but the possibility exists. As despicable as this crime is, and the perpetrators must pay a heavy price, death is pretty absurd. It does nothing to stop the crimes from happening by others, and the whole "vengeance" thing is not a good enough reason to just have state sponsored murder.

[MN ChimpH8R]

16. Probably unconstitutional

IIRC, there was a USSC decision back in the 1970s to the effect that the death penalty could only be applied in cases of first degree murder. This will not weather a constitutional challenge.

[Madspirit]

17. I Hope to Hell Not

It is ghoulish. Well, the death penalty is ghoulish but particularly so where no murder has been committed.
As a Texan I am ashamed.
Lee

[EST]

20. With the current make up of the SC, there is precious little that we can expect

to be unconstitutional. "Strict constructionist" is puke speak for "thinking like a republican."
If it's draconian and stupid, expect a 5-4 yes vote from the crew that can't allow real history to intrude on their fundy dystopia.

[Freddie Stubbs]

23. The Court is a bit more conservative now

[VelmaD]

29. that's assuming...

that the SC follows established precedent. And we've already seen this term that they'll throw precendent out the window when it furthers the right-wing agenda to do so.

Roberts and Alito lied in their confirmation hearings on this point.

[Madspirit]

19. k&r...n/t

[TankLV]

21. I'm against the death penalty in ALL circumstances...

Doesn't mean that if somebody I cared about was killed that I wouldn't WANT revenge and punishment up to and including death - but I am grateful that in those moments, I would have laws protecting ME from MYSELF and my baser desires...

[Madspirit]

22. Humans

Yes, humans have a hard time separating their emotions...what they Want...from objective Ethics and Morals....what is Right.

Of course if someone I love was killed I would want the perp. dead and I would want to do it with my bare hands. That doesn't mean it would be the right thing to do.

In my opinion the death penalty is one of the Most Truly Evil things about our country. It's ghoulish and barbaric.
Lee

[rasputin1952]

27. I can recall a hanging when I lived in WA. THere were the

requisite witnesses, and some of the family of the individual murdered. They were in a small room w/a scaffold above and to the front of them. The condemned was walked in, climbed the few stairs, made a quick statement and the noose was placed around his neck. The executioner did what he was supposed to do, tightening the noose, placing the knot behind the left ear, and then stepped back to trip the door.

He tripped the door, and the condemned man dropped through the trap door. Much to the horror of all in the execution chamber, the condemned man's head separated from his body, and everyone in the gallery was soaked in his blood, as his carotid arteries sent gushes of blood into the crowd. The body flopped on the ground for a few seconds, and by the time it had ceased it's movements, most of the witnesses had fled the execution chamber. This was in the 1980's, and there was no trained executioner to teach the new man what to do. He used a rope that was too long and not thick enough, so the condemned was garroted, then beheaded in a second.

WA officials, rather than look at this as a gruesome miscalculation, decided that the proper thing to do
in the future would be to hang a sheet in front of the scaffold, to avoid a bloodbath. Backlighting was included, so the shadow could be seen falling through the door. If I would have been in the legislature at the time, my suggestion would have been to abolish the DP and end any future scenarios; but I guess that would have been just a tad too logical...:(

[ulysses]

42. madspirit speaks my mind here.

:thumbsup:

[MN ChimpH8R]

39. I used to agree with you

but the last six years have convinced me that the death penalty should be imposed on those convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Guess who made me revise my opinion. :evilgrin:

[mudesi]

26. Hear, hear, for useless non-solutions to problems

This does nothing, I repeat, nothing to prevent child predators and sex offenders. There is no deterrent to these kinds of crimes except the prevention of them in the first place.

But good old right wing "thought" that unfortunately dominates Texas once again prevails.

The GOP are a bunch of swindling con artists who sell carefully marketed nonsense that targets the emotions of the population. It sure "feels good" to hear that child rapists will be put to death. BUT IT DOES NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. AT ALL. That takes some actual thought, which is something the neo cons are loathe to do.

This goes hand in hand with "arm the population to reduce crime" and "fight them over there so we don't fight them over here". Anything to avoid funding education, or free health care, or creating any kind of social safety net whatsoever.

[DKRC]

30. Other states are trying to abolish the death penalty, mine's putting in an express lane. - Ron White

[dogday]

31. Actually locking these guys up with the

general population in prison is a death sentance.....

[DKRC]

32. Yes, child rapists don't last too long once they're convicted. nt

[Madspirit]

33. Actually that's just spin

Something like 40% of the imprisoned rapists are in for raping someone under age... Go to DOJ website.

...and rape is never good and we don't really smile on prison rape around here either.
Lee

[DKRC]

34. The guys I remember WISH it was spin.

I worked LE in AL years ago and when these guys weren't in solitary for their own protection they paid for their crimes in the general population.

[Madspirit]

36. Rape is not the sentence

...and rape is never cool. NEVER and it is not a smiled on topic here...acting like anyone deserves it. Their sentence is prison. NO ONE deserves to be raped. You don't counter abuse with abuse and call it justice.
Lee

[DKRC]

38. I'm not smiling.

I'm telling you what I know happened, not what is justice.

[Madspirit]

40. Good! Thanks for clarifying.

Too many around here talk up prison rape like it is something someone might deserve.

Thanks again for clarifying.
Lee

[MountainLaurel]

37. This will go out the window

The first time some "pillar of the community" gets busted raping his stepdaughter or a friend of the family.