The American Spectator

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Judicial Activists Strike Again

6.27.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 2 of 7)

Our country is no longer governed by the People (WE the People), but is instead government by five or six unelected judges, who through a spurious incorporation doctrine, continue to usurp the rights of the People to self-determination in the pursuit of happiness (and that includes making laws and punishments to effect that purpose).
-- Vern Crisler
Gilbert, Arizona

Mr. Tucker misses the point. The death penalty for child rapists or for any crime short of murder may or may not be wise or appropriate. But that debate is one for the various legislatures, as informed by their constituents. It is not properly within the Supreme Court's constitutional jurisdiction. That is the main point and the one that irritates conservatives to no end.
-- Delane Clark
Mount Airy, North Carolina

Mr. Tucker makes a fine case for expanding capital punishment for those convicted of premeditated murder, even though his reasoning is narrow and simplistic. Then he fails to apply this same logic to those convicted of raping a child under the age of twelve. Using his logic that increased execution for homicide reduces the rate of homicides, then wouldn't it follow that the increased execution of child rapists would reduce the incidence of child rape? If so, then what is the basis of his argument that those convicted of raping a child under the age of twelve should not have to face the death penalty? It appears to be that he feels the threat of death for this particular crime will encourage the perpetrator to kill the victim, as there is no difference in the penalty for sexual battery and homicide. Of course this presupposes that the perpetrator of a child rape is a good hearted soul who would never stoop to commit the heinous crime of murder unless forced to by the unenlightened criminal statutes of his home state. Would you trust your future welfare to someone who had shown such little regard for your current welfare? And what about all the instances of rape victims, particularly children, turning up dead in a ditch or even the perpetrator's back yard? Perhaps the threat of life in prison drove them to kill their victim. Maybe all of the victims of rape-murders could have been saved if only the perpetrator knew that he would not have to face more than five years in the state pen. This is all ludicrous speculation and ignores reality.

The point of contention, with regard to the Supreme Court's decision that the death penalty is not applicable to the crime of sexual battery upon a victim under the age of twelve, is that the Court overrode the will of the people of the State of Louisiana without just cause. A majority of the States in the Union also adhere to the potential imposition of capital punishment for rape of a victim under thirteen, even though it has not been imposed following the disastrous decision of the SCOTUS in Coker v. Georgia in 1977. Therefore, it is not unusual punishment under the 8th amendment, but rather the usually legislated punishment. How can execution for the perpetrator of one crime [child rape] be cruel if the same method of execution is not cruel when applied to the perpetrator of another [murder]? Therefore, it is neither cruel nor unusual under the 8th amendment, but rather humane and common. This is simply the continuation of the fuzzy thinking that has pervaded the Court for decades. There is little, if any, logic applied to the decisions in these cases. And it appears that the wording of the Constitution and its Amendments are irrelevant to the Court's decisions.

Now in the interests of disclosure, my personal belief is that the death penalty should be reserved for those who have proven themselves to be such a grave threat to society and its members that they can be allowed no opportunity to re-enter society. As long as they live, there is always the chance that they may gain their freedom, either through escape or the misguided actions of government officials [pardon or commutation of sentence]. Their death effectively insures that they will never pose a threat to society again. Premeditated murders surely fall into this category, but so may a number of other crimes. Take for example the hypothetical case of a man convicted in the kidnap and prolonged torture of another individual, during which the victim's life is only saved by the timely intervention of law enforcement agents and medical personnel. Even though the objective of the perpetrator was the death of the victim, in a most cruel and inhumane manner, should the death penalty be disallowed because the victim did not die? It appears that the SCOTUS thinks so. I realize that this is an extreme example, though not unknown, but it illustrates my point that the SCOTUS has continued to drift farther away from its Constitutional role, which is to evaluate the Constitutionality of laws not whether the members of the Court personally agree with them. This then is the crux of the debate: who watches the watchers? A large number of people, in this country, are not sure. This seems to be a Court out of control, as do so many of the lower courts of this land. That is the problem with this decision. Who knows what the members of the Court will find personally objectionable next?
-- Michael Tobias

Bill Tucker's argument to limit the death penalty to murderers trivializes the entire concept to tit for tat, or, if you prefer the Biblical phraseology, and eye for an eye. Oh that I could have called on Mr. Tucker in the days of yore when my father took off his belt, his objective not being to impose tit for tat on my posterior but rather to punish me.

The good people of the State of Louisiana decided that when a 300-pound step-father rapes his eight year old step-daughter, said step-father should suffer the ultimate punishment, and may God have mercy on his soul. The people of the State of Louisiana, as opposed to writers from Nyack, New York, are not desirous of tit for tat. They want to punish the violator in a way that makes clear that such behavior will not be tolerated. Contrary to the good people of the State of Louisiana, five blackrobes of the Supreme Court decided that such behavior should be rewarded by lifetime room and board at no charge in an institution of the state.

Let's not make it that way.
-- Frank Natoli
Newton, New Jersey

Some problems with William Tucker's theory that execution should be reserved for murders only:

--Treason is still a capital offense -- so much for the "murder only" approach to capital punishment.

--SCOTUS has no Constitutional grounds allowing them to usurp states' rights on this issue.

--For many liberals, there is no such thing as "life imprisonment." Sooner or later, the "he's suffered enough" mentality leads to parole in far too many cases.

--Child rapists thinking cogently about the difference between life imprisonment and death in the midst of a child rape is huge assumption on Tucker's part.

--The "emotional" aspect of a child being sexually violated cannot be easily dismissed.

--Executing such beasts is not an "indiscriminate" use of the death penalty.
-- Arnold Ahlert
Boca Raton, Florida

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