Oklahoma oks execution of perverts

[PinnedAndRecessed]

Title: Governor Signs Bill Allowing Death Penalty For Repeat Child Molesters

Link: http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0606/334894.html

Oklahoma City (AP) - A bill to allow the death penalty for repeat child molesters is now law.

Without comment, Governor Henry signed the legislation into law today.

Anyone convicted a second time of rape, forcible sodomy, lewd molestation or rape by instrumentation of a child under 14 could be put to death.

Oklahoma joins Florida, Louisiana and Montana with similar legislation. South Carolina's legislature has also passed such a bill and the governor there is expected to sign it into law soon.

Defense attorneys and death penalty experts say the law is likely to be found unconstitutional if challenged.

No one convicted of a sex offense has been executed since the U-S Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty 30 years ago. However one inmate is on death row in Louisiana following his 2003 conviction for raping an 8-year-old girl.

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

Kudos to OK.

But these executions need to be carried out in a timely manner. If these animals are allowed to languish on death row, only to ultimately die of natural causes, where's the deterrent value?

 

[ArmedBear]

As much as I may think that executing these animals is a good idea, this probably won't pass constitutional muster.

Remember, punishments need not be "cruel" to be thrown out; they need only be "unusual."

 

[Beachmaster]

I volunteer to be the executioner for no charge. I'll even provide my own extention cord for the electric chair, bullets for my own gun, sword for beheading, rope for hanging, and rocks for stoning.

Sorry but I don't do Lethal Injections. I consider them CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT for the FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS who have to watch killers die a quiet and peacefull death, while knowing their own loved ones were tortured, raped, beaten, begging for their life, etc.

 

[Pilgrim]

Sorry but I don't do Lethal Injections. I consider them CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT for the FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS who have to watch killers die a quiet and peacefull death, while knowing their own loved ones were tortured, raped, beaten, begging for their life, etc.

I just think it is horrible we could be making drug addicts out of them.

Pilgrim

 

[Croyance]

Actually, Oklahoma didn't OK the execution of perverts. Kind of an important distinction since gays and lesbians would pretty much fit in that category in Oklahoma. They made some sex crimes punishable by death.

Beachmaster, families don't have to watch any execution. They merely have the option too. I wonder how many would actually find more peace in watching a torture? Probably less than you believe.

 

[rhubarb]

The prosecutors and judges who allow light enough sentences for these criminals to be released into society after the first such offense should face cruel and unusual punishment.

 

[Waitone]

Talk is cheap.

Don't tell me what you intend to do; show me what you did. I have a deep appreciation for just how cheap talk is.

 

[Soybomb]

You know I'm still torn on the death penalty. I do think some people are so guilty and inhuman that they don't deserve to live. At the same time though I can't think of a single thing the government really does well and I'm not sure I trust them enough to be in the business of killing us without screwing it up. One mistake is one mistake too many.

 

[progunner1957]

Child molesters deserve the death penalty - period. So do rapists. If I ever get to be king, that will be the law o' the land, with an express lane to the lethal injection Barcolounger.

 

[joab]

So what do y'all think about the theory that instituting a death penalty on rapist and pedos would cause an increase in rapist and pedos killing their victims

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

So what do y'all think about the theory that instituting a death penalty on rapist and pedos would cause an increase in rapist and pedos killing their victims

I think that's about as lame a theory as suggesting that, if a state legalizes concealed carry, robbers will shoot first, then rob.

 

[qlajlu]

So here we have a state pass a law calling for the Death Penalty in "some" cases of sex abuse of a minor and another judge (remember a month ago?) gives a guy 10 years probation - of course the reason was that he was too short and "...would not do well in prison."

Talk about running the gamut of possibilities.

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Out of curiousity, why is the law potentially unconstitutional?

 

[ravinraven]

"...the reason was that he was too short and '...would not do well in prison.' "

Do they have one of those bars like in Disney land with a sign saying "If you can pass under this bar, you are too short for this ride."?

And the not do well in prison thing is strange. I didn't realize you were supposed to do well in prison. Maybe Ken Lay can use this idea to his advantage. Did Bill Gates go to prison? And if so, what did he do to enable him to do so well? I surely didn't 'cause I sure ain't doing very well. Must be some sort of discrimination going on here.

rr

 

[WeedWhacker]

We've all heard the saying, "an eye for an eye", but what many of us might not know is that this doesn't refer to vengeance, but that the punishment must fit the crime. (I.e., don't poke in both the offender's eyes after he pokes in someone else's eye.)

Twenty-five years is a looooong time, a long time. Actual sex crimes with real victims are terrible, and most of society agrees that losing most of your life in a prison is a just sentence.

The real problem is that many violent criminals do not serve the time they have been sentenced to serve, due to "harsh punishments" for other "horrible" crimes our gov't has seen fit to create, such as, oh, possession of certain substances.

When you start upping the ante on punishments, you get unintended results.

 

[bg]

But these executions need to be carried out in a timely manner. If these animals are allowed to languish on death row, only to ultimately die of natural causes, where's the deterrent value?

True, but on the other side of the dime, where they going ?
They'd be dead meat out in the population. Let em sit and
think about the needle imagining how it's gonna feel to
die slow like..Still I agree with you. What damage these
scums of the earth have done to innocent people can
never truly be repaired.

 

[joab]

I think that's about as lame a theory as suggesting that, if a state legalizes concealed carry, robbers will shoot first, then rob.

Other than your concealed carry analogy I agree.

This has been put out by a few legal experts and child advocates, some of whom actually favor the death penalty as a very real possibility

On the other hand it may make grandpa or Coach Smith think twice before indulging in their impulses, if the state ever actually uses the law.

 

[71Commander]

What if it's concensual between a 16 year old boy and his 14/13 year old girlfriend?

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

The Constitution Cowboy Says:

The act of molesting or raping a child would be no less cruel than executing the perpetrator. Executing the perpetrator of such a crime would not be unusual. The cruelty comes from letting such perpetrators out to commit such a crime again. It is contrary to common sense(unusual) not to execute such a perpetrator after the first offense. The perpetrator's propensity and willingness to commit such atrocities has been revealed with the first offense. There is no way to stop such behavior with less than lethal means.

Woody

There is perspective and there is pretense. No amount of bombast or emotion can truthfully equate the two. One does not add validity to the other. Bombast and emotion added to pretense does not equal perspective. Reason, fact, and logic? That's a different matter. That will net you perspective every time. B.E.Wood

 

[Soybomb]

I'm surprised that so many people think this wil actually be a deterrent. I've never seen anything to show the death penality effectively deters crime so far, why should this one be any different? To say that you don't want to pay to keep scum locked up is the real justification I see.

 

[lbmii]

It is not about deterrence it is about justice.

If any deterrence occurs then that is simply a side benefit.

 

[gm]

the dealth penalty only serves as a deterrant if its carried out quickly.that is rarely the case in any of the cases where its imposed and the method of execution is chosen by the accused in some cases.

so as it stands, the dealth penalty is no longer a deterrant.

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

All The Death Penalty Does...

...is prevent the perpetrator from committing any more crime. There is your deterrence. Anyone kept in prison should be put to work earning his keep. No more free rides. If they refuse, kill them. Why should John Q. Public be saddled with paying for the subsistance of a ne'er-do-well?

Woody