Unlike many others who are wringing their hands and crying their crocodile tears that the sky is indeed falling, I was relieved when the SCOTUS declared capital punishment for child molestation unconstitutional. I was relieved for several reasons, the first being I am pro-life. I do not believe we have a right to take another life except in time of war or self-defense. As a survivor of child molestation, I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the law was declared unconstitutional. I did not need that burden to be added to the others.
Have you noticed the only people we usually hear from when discussing this extreme punishment for child molestation are adults who were not molested as children? I think there is a very good reason for this. Adult survivors have enough to deal with. Don’t force this on us and think you are doing us a favor. You aren’t. Instead, you are doing just the opposite, making our lives a true living hell. I think the knowledge that the elementary school principal who molested me had been executed because of me, would be enough to cause me to consider suicide.
There is one horrible little fact people never mention when punishing child molesters. These people deserve punishment for what they have done to the most innocent of the world. There is no ‘cure’ for this psychological disorder and addiction. The only way to insure the safety of society is to remove them from the society of children – forever. They cannot be cured. They cannot be rehabilitated. It’s too bad we don’t have a punishment available to the world of Babylon 5 – death of personality. That would solve the whole problem.
Did you know there has never been a child molester who was not molested as a child themselves? Not every person who was molested as a child becomes a molester themselves, but every child molester was a molested child. This one fact alone should preclude any thought of the final retribution of society. A child molester is a very damaged individual. For that one fact they deserve a millimeter of sympathy – and no more.
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Article comments
1 - Dan Miller
Among the problems with this article is that it confuses "child molestation," which can take many forms, with the brutal, physically horrendous, and emotionally horrific rape of an eight year old child by her stepfather. The medical facts of the rape are graphically described in the Court's Opinion and in my article discussing it. The Court was not dealing with mere "child molestation;" it was dealing with something far worse.
You may oppose the death penalty in all cases. Many people do, and clearly that is your right. However, by failing even to mention in passing the extreme nature of the crime for which the Court rejected imposition of the death penalty, you do your cause no good. Indeed, you may well have done it harm. My suspicion is that the Court's decision here has generated very substantial support for the imposition of the death penalty, rather than the reverse. The same is true of articles such as yours.
As to the impact on the victim of participating as a witness in a criminal proceeding, I see no justification for your unarticulated basic assumption that testifying in a proceeding where the death penalty is sought is significantly different from testifying in a proceeding where the death penalty is not sought. If there is any sound basis for this assumption, it would be enlightening to have it presented. Otherwise, the logical extension of your argument is that there should be no criminal prosecution of any person who molests a small child, regardless of the circumstances, unless the child does not have to testify. Such a rule would most likely result in there being no such criminal prosecution at all, because the defendant is entitled to have the witnesses against him testify unless the witnesses are dead or otherwise completely unavailable to testify.
Dan
2 - Joanne Huspek
First of all, let me say I'm sorry that you or any other child has to suffer abuse.
Your article makes some very valid points. Child abusers aren't born, they are made. I would be more interested in discovering what leads a person to do this and what we can do to stop it.
The "death" penalty in this country is a misnomer. Now convicted criminals are given years of appeal opportunities, and they may be very old before the sentence is carried out. Or you could be sentenced to death in a state like California, and never be executed.
3 - Baronius
SJ, I consider myself pro-life as well. You noted that it's ok to take a life in self-defense. You also mentioned war, which is a type of national or world self-defense, if the war is morally justifiable. I consider capital punishment to be a type of societal self-defense.
I don't believe that every criminal should be executed; not even every murderer. But there are people who would be unsafe to even keep confined, out of risk for the guards and fellow prisoners. It's not about retribution or deterring others. It's about preventing certain individuals from causing further harm. Some sexual predators could fall into that category.
As for your personal story, I have no idea what to say. "You have my sympathy" seems shallow, but you do have my sympathy.
4 - why_knot
What a difficult subject to try to find consensus on! I don't think that consensus is a possiblity.
Form my own posistion, I have to question the statment that ALL abusers have been abused. I don't believe that statement is correct.
Regardless, we have now learned that child sexual abusers do not 'grow out of it' when they get old. This has been shown in the evidence of priests that abuse.
I do not believe that killing abusers is a solution.
However, I do believe that child sexual abusers should be kept seperate from society, held in secure facilities, and never allowed to be released into society again.
Much as I would like vengence, I know that it will not solve anything. That is an issue that I have to deal with and I don't think that it is the role of our legal system to enforce vengence.
I think that it is the role of our legal system to protect society from predatory indivduals who harm our most innocent.
To do that, keep the predators locked up in humane conditions and never let them out. Don't give them the opportunity to rip another life apart.
5 - Dr Dreadful
I have to question the statment that ALL abusers have been abused. I don't believe that statement is correct.
I've heard that a lot as well, WK, and I agree with you that it can't be literally correct. There must have been a beginning to any particular cycle of abuse, and therefore an original abuser who was not himself abused.
However, I think what is meant is that the figures are something in the very high 90 per cent range. The numbers of first generation abusers are negligible, so to all intents and purposes it is true to say that (approximately) all abusers were abused.
6 - bliffle
Another erroneous statement: "I consider capital punishment to be a type of societal self-defense."
Nonsense. Defense occurs when an offense is being committed.
Capital punishment is retribution. Vengeance. Nothing better.
7 - Baronius
Bliffle, call it "societal prevention of the need for self-defense" then. I still think self-defense is the right term if we're stopping some criminal who's on a life-long killing spree. We have every reason to believe that the most dangerous repeat offenders will keep committing crimes.
If I were interested in vengeance, I'd say kill all the murderers. I'm interested in preventing the most dangerous people from ever hurting anyone again. Maybe super-max facilities can protect the guards and fellow prisoners sufficiently that we don't need the death penalty any more. Until we're sure, the death penalty should be on the table.
8 - Cary Ace Bowers Jr
kill them,if you think they should live,castration would be good,lose a limb for murderers if they should live,and this is babylonian justice,no exceptions!!
9 - Reality Check
kill the soul murderes- I went through it as well and I say and eye for an eye. We can't risk repeat offenses. They have destroyed the lives of children, which usually leads to a life of self destruction, suicide, drug addiction and possibly turning into abusers. The spiritual damage they cause is worse than death. And if you say that you are relieved that he wouldn't have to face death because of YOU, there is something very wrong with that thought pattern. Its never the victim's fault, EVER. If the punishment now becomes death and they still do it, knowing that death looms, then they accept that when they perpetrate. Also, don't you know that he can't be sentenced to death now? You can't be tried for the same crime twice in America. They can't retry anyone and re sentence. Its called double jeopardy. Also, I do agree that it is societal self defense. I disagree with your comment that all abusers have been abused. Where is your evidence for this? By letting these soul-murders live, you are condoning the behavior and putting another child's life and happiness at risk. Why should we have mercy? If the abuser had mercy-they would have gotten psychological help or killed themselves rather than poison children with their traumatic atrocities. At the least they should be locked away for life, with no parole.
10 - THINK in the BIG Picture
Biffle- It is NOT erroneous to say that is is a form of societal self defense BECAUSE society is comprised of EVERYONE making up ONE body throughout the entire life span of the perpetrator. If a man tries to shoots you ONLY in ONE body part- do you let him loose to try to shoot you in another? NO, you would be committing suicide to allow that. Think outside the box. Society means every person as one whole body. SO IT DOES DEFEND our society as a whole. I can't believe how ignorant some people can be in the way they think. Why would you let a POW go, during war time? This is war time and the perv is the enemy. Hopefully your children don't get molested by some asshole that got paroled. I don't think you would be claiming self defense is only at the time of the crime then.
11 - THINK in the BIG Picture
*tries to shoot you or shoots you*
12 - ....
personally i think this is a great law. i was molested at a young age, maybe its spite, but i would still feel the same
13 - Jet Gardner
Let's not forget that the vast majority of child molesters are hetrosexual-we should take their marriage rights away...
14 - Vanessa
When a dog attacks a child it is put down right away. People are animals to but held at a higher standard & should know better. We can NOT house every single "damaged" person for fear they may strike again. Which is why they are let free. Children are looked upon as property these days. I myself was also a victim and belive that the thought of him dead would be more relief than knowing he is alive every day to relive what to him, realistically, was a pleasureable experience. We as parents, adults, Americans have a duty to protect, by any means necessary, our children. The world is what we make it, you don't want perverts molesting, raping, killing our children, than make the penalty stiff enough to deter their sick thoughts and show some self control. Eventually, the streets may be safe yet again for our children to play outside & enjoy life.
15 - Donna Lee
All accused are not guilty. I was coached by the prosecuting Attorney when I was 4 years old. And, I WAS NOT MOLESTED! My innocent brother got Life in prison. QAccusers VERY often recant.
16 - Leroy
Since so many molesters were molested themselves, the logic of Death Penalty Deterrence would lead one to kill the victim also, in order to prevent them from growing up into a molester.