Some unusual allies have filed briefs supporting Kennedy's case: victims' rights organizations. The groups contend that supporting a death penalty law in such cases could carry terrible consequences, such as encouraging rapists to kill their victims.

This is assuming that rapists are logical and actually know the law. What the fark is the chance of that?

She said, "It's too hard for a child victim to have to testify against 'Uncle John' when they know he may be put to death.

It's too hard? I'm gonna avoid the obvious play on words and just say that "its too hard" is never really a good excuse to not do something.

Does Louisiana's capital rape statute violate the Eighth Amendment because it doesn't set clear guidelines for juries as to who is eligible for the death penalty?

I could see the Court overturning it on these grounds.

KaponoFor3: This is assuming that rapists are logical and actually know the law. What the fark is the chance of that?

The assumption that the death penalty works as a deterrent rests on comparable logic.

kronicfeld: The assumption that the death penalty works as a deterrent rests on comparable logic.

True, but I like the pure revenge justification

KaponoFor3: True, but I like the pure revenge justification

Fair enough, but I don't think "revenge" should be a legitimate component of state action.

kronicfeld: Fair enough, but I don't think "revenge" should be a legitimate component of state action.

Well China, Iran, and (I think) Saudi Arabia agree with me, so PFFT

KaponoFor3: Well China, Iran, and (I think) Saudi Arabia agree with me, so PFFT

Damn, you pulled out the trump cards.

Lawyers for a Louisiana man who received a death sentence for raping a child will get the chance to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court why they believe he should not be spared the death penalty.

Is it really that hard to proofread an article?

kronicfeld: Damn, you pulled out the trump cards.

Yes, I know. I don't really remember the USSC justifications for why the death penalty didn't violate the Eighth Amendment -- hell, I can't even remember if deterrence was one of them -- mainly because my criminal law teacher kind of glossed over the justifications to continually rail on why she thought the death penalty was a bad idea. That got old pretty quick.

/Pay for the class, not your opinion

the dude raped his 8 year old stepdaughter. let him fry

Kennedy's legal team wants the court to declare Louisiana's law allowing the death penalty for child rape unconstitutional.

If it was their 8 year old child that got raped I wonder if they'd feel differently. I say castrate him, then fry him.

Can we add the guy from earlier today who burned the toddler and make it three?

Child rape? I say commute his death sentence and change it to daily waterboarding.

Dude, eight year olds?

TommyBahama: the dude raped his 8 year old stepdaughter. let him fry

Agreed, fark him and feed him to the electric chair.

TommyBahama: the dude raped his 8 year old stepdaughter. let him fry

Dallas man cleared, freed from prison after 27 years for rape

NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG.

Let's face it, revenge is a natural human reaction to unconscionable actions. I may be out on a limb here, but adult males raping 8-year-old and 5-year-old children are most certainly deserving of said revenge. These men exhibit pathological illness far beyond the range of human comprehension, and should be removed from the ranks of civilization as soon as possible.

Dodanto: Can we add the guy from earlier today who burned the toddler and make it three?

THIS

WFern: NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG.

ZOMG one person was wrongly convicted, they all must be!!!1!1

I remember the crime well. The initial report about his arrest was covered by the local media. He raped her pretty bad.

Can anyone name a crime worse than raping an 8 year old? I think shooting someone point blank in the face is less heinous. You've just destroyed a kid.

jjorsett: Child rape? I say commute his death sentence and change it to daily waterboarding.

This

No punishment, even death, is a deterrent against crime.

People don't weigh the counsequences of getting caught before they rape a child. They have other things on their mind.

That being said, it's your country, your child rapist. Do whatever the hell you want with him.

Soapbox warning
We should be overturning it for being cruel punishment. When other time do we 'punish' people by visiting the same crime on them they took upon another? Do we rape rapists?

Justice is about punishment and prevention; the death penalty is about revenge.

"Patrick Kennedy was accused of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter in 1998, badly injuring her during the crime."

"Last month, Richard Lee Davis became the second man in the United States on death row for a nonhomicide offense after a jury convicted him of raping a 5-year old child and the court sentenced him to death."

Let 'em fry.

The groups contend that supporting a death penalty law in such cases could carry terrible consequences, such as encouraging rapists to kill their victims.

Which sounds like a good justification for torture to me. That way we will always have gradations of punishment.

I think we should forgive these men and release them immediately. Hasn't everyone suffered enough already? Besides, he's been recently baptized by my church...

Lawyers for a Louisiana man who received a death sentence for raping a child will get the chance to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court why they believe he should not be spared the death penalty.

By doing so they want the law declared unconstitutional, check?

IMO raping a child is enough justification for the DP

Seems this can't backfire since he's already on death row..

As much as I support the death penalty, I can see the logic in reducing these sentences. Hopefully that person will serve out his sentence, then fall down a flight of stairs and break his neck on the way out of jail.

States get to make their own criminal laws. State law says the offense qualifies for the death penalty. State voters have a chance to disagree, and they haven't. As long as it's not being applied in an unequal fashion, then there's not really much to complain about here.

There's nothing in U.S. Constitutional law that says you have to kill someone in order to qualify for the death penalty. Soldiers can be shot for desertion, and civilians can be shot for treason, so there are other examples. Why not this one?

I have a really simple solution. If you like it, you may sign up for my newsletter, or join my fan club - either one...

First: The death penalty shall be used in accordance with crimes wherein there is no possibility of restitution. In other words; murder, rape, child molestation, etc. You cannot pay someone back when you've taken these things from them.

Second: In order to prove a death penalty case, there must be absolute DNA proof. There should be a standard, such as 99% match. The state will pay for all DNA testing.

Third: The defendant will have one appeal to make sure that the DNA was collected constitutionally, and tested in the proper manner. Also paid for by the state, and performed by a third party not affiliated in any way with the trial.

Fourth: If found guilty and exhausted of the 1 appeal, the defendant will have 30 days in which to set his or her affairs in order, and then they shall be executed by whatever means the state determines to be most effective.

KaponoFor3: WFern: NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG.

ZOMG one person was wrongly convicted, they all must be!!!1!1

I'll bet the prosecutors thought the same about this freed man even after four others in the state were similarly released.

Execution is ignorance unless you haven't the slightest shred of doubt.

WFern: TommyBahama: the dude raped his 8 year old stepdaughter. let him fry

Dallas man cleared, freed from prison after 27 years for rape

NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG.

Murderer hacks up beachgoers, released to same beach where he threatens to hack up other beachgoers (new window)

Something to see here check it out.

Mrbogey: I remember the crime well. The initial report about his arrest was covered by the local media. He raped her pretty bad.

Can anyone name a crime worse than raping an 8 year old? I think shooting someone point blank in the face is less heinous. You've just destroyed a kid.

The Catholic Church has been doing it for ages and nobody does anything.

Suicidal_Elmo: reducing these sentences

I guess I should have been more specific. Reducing these sentences = life in prison.

If he actually penetrated an 8 year old i propose we bring back some medieval methods to perform the execution.

Chuck Wagon "Lawyers for a Louisiana man who received a death sentence for raping a child will get the chance to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court why they believe he should not be spared the death penalty."

Is it really that hard to proofread an article?

If only that were his attorneys position... if only.

With respect to how rare the death sentence is handed down in these cases (not often enough in my opinion) I imagine these were especially gruesome/heinous crimes.

/let 'em die.

i say give him life. BUT let him know it be in the general population of the prison. None of this protected area for him.


who wants to take bets on how long he last in gp?

There is no need for the death penalty in these cases. Put them in prison and the other inmates will kill them within months. Even convicted felons hate these people.

KaponoFor3: This is assuming that rapists are logical and actually know the law. What the fark is the chance of that?

Let's see. I"m gonna put it this way: The disgusting ape could just have easily have killed the stepdaughter so she wouldn't live to squawk on him.

If you think murder is not much worse than rape, then savages like him now have an encouraging reason to finish off all their rape victims next time. And there are a lot of rape victims out there.

FilmBELOH20: Second: In order to prove a death penalty case, there must be absolute DNA proof. There should be a standard, such as 99% match. The state will pay for all DNA testing.

You are REALLY overestimating the frequency and quality of DNA evidence. It isn't necessary to prove something happened, and its absence isn't indicative of anything other than a careful criminal.

Lack of DNA or even someone else's DNA is merely circumstantial. You are suffering from what police and prosecutors call the "CSI effect". All that fancy scientific evidence frequently doesn't exist, but that doesn't mean you can't prove with absolute certainty that person X committed crime Y against victim Z.

Scienceman123: mikaloyd: WFern: TommyBahama: the dude raped his 8 year old stepdaughter. let him fry

Dallas man cleared, freed from prison after 27 years for rape

NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG.

Murderer hacks up beachgoers, released to same beach where he threatens to hack up other beachgoers (new window)

Something to see here check it out.

Nobody is suggesting releasing dangerous offenders.

This. I love how "witholding execution until more proof is established" is warped into "let him go, folks."

CHAZZZ: Mrbogey: I remember the crime well. The initial report about his arrest was covered by the local media. He raped her pretty bad.

Can anyone name a crime worse than raping an 8 year old? I think shooting someone point blank in the face is less heinous. You've just destroyed a kid.

The Catholic Church has been doing it for ages and nobody does anything.

Your troll-fu is weak tonight.

Or do you really believe that it's the entire organization, and not, say, a couple of bad apples - the percentage of whom is comparable to plumbers, truck drivers and school administrators accused of the same thing?

Did they try to go to Talos IV?

/obscure?

cefm: FilmBELOH20: Second: In order to prove a death penalty case, there must be absolute DNA proof. There should be a standard, such as 99% match. The state will pay for all DNA testing.

You are REALLY overestimating the frequency and quality of DNA evidence. It isn't necessary to prove something happened, and its absence isn't indicative of anything other than a careful criminal.

Lack of DNA or even someone else's DNA is merely circumstantial. You are suffering from what police and prosecutors call the "CSI effect". All that fancy scientific evidence frequently doesn't exist, but that doesn't mean you can't prove with absolute certainty that person X committed crime Y against victim Z.

Lack of evidence does not provide carte blanche to execute. You don't have DNA evidence? Fine. Side with caution and continue with imprisonment.

I'm okay with capital punishment for child rape. Because they'll be repeat offenders anyway.

BUT, apparently one of those guys on death row was not found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to me, as there was no physical evidence presented at trial. How can ANYONE be sentenced to death with no physical evidence, just the word of someone? Inexcusable.

Of course if caught red, er, handed raping a child, they should be executed immediately.

But then, it's more expensive to go through all the various appeals and such for a death penalty, than it is to imprison for life without parole.

The death penalty is just that - a penalty for one's actions. Although some may seek revenge (I probably would if it were my child) or somehow hope it deters others, it is a punishment. Nothing more. Nothing less.

FilmBELOH20: Or do you really believe that it's the entire organization, and not, say, a couple of bad apples - the percentage of whom is comparable to plumbers, truck drivers and school administrators accused of the same thing?

Although to be fair, the plumber's union doesn't ship off a pedophile to Joe's Pipe Plumbing in New Jersey after incidents of abuse. In that sense the church is aiding the cover-up of a crime.

/end Friday afternoon thread directional diversion.

8 year olds, dude, that's tight.

Onager: We should be overturning it for being cruel punishment.

The "cruel" argument never makes sense to me. My guess is that those who make the argument have never been in prison. I fail to see how being put to death is any more cruel than living with Bubba as a roommate and the constant fear of being made his (or any of his friend's) play toy.

In general, chomos (child molesters) are not highly thought of in prison anyway. They are often the first to be "initiated" into the class system of the institution. Maybe, death is too good for them.

Oh, the wonderful court systems of Louisiana.

/Not-so-proud Louisianian
//'We're not corrupt, nooo...'