Court meeting to weigh death penalty for child rapists

WASHINGTON (AP) â?? The Supreme Court is considering whether someone may be executed for raping a child, a case that balances concerns about the death penalty with tougher sanctions for child sex crimes.

Only two people, both in Louisiana, are on death row in the United States for raping a child without also killing their victim.

The justices were to hear arguments Wednesday about whether the Constitution allows executions for rapes that do not also involve murder.

Separately, the court also was expected to issue opinions in unrelated cases.

The lawyers for one inmate, Patrick Kennedy, say the death penalty for child rape violates the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

Kennedy, 43, was convicted of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter at their home in the New Orleans suburb of Harvey in 1998.

No one has been executed for anything other than murder in 44 years. In 1977, the court ruled out executions for rapists whose victims are adults.

It left open the issue of whether raping a child could lead to death.

Executions are on hold across the United States while the court considers the constitutionality of the way states use lethal injections to put prisoners to death.

Besides Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas also allow executions of someone convicted of child rape, although the latter four states never have applied the death penalty to child rapists. Missouri, led by Gov. Matt Blunt, is considering a similar law.

Those states say there is a trend toward toughening penalties for people who victimize children and contend that death is an appropriate punishment for so horrific a crime as the rape of a child.

Kennedy's lawyers say more states have rejected the death penalty for child rapists and that the reasoning of the court's 1977 decision â?? that death is an excessive penalty for a rapist who does not also kill â?? should apply even when the victim is a child.

Groups that work to prevent sexual violence also have sided with Kennedy. They say victims often know their attacker â?? a relative or family friend â?? and that more rapes will go unreported if children have to worry that their words might lead to an execution.

The other inmate, Richard Davis, was sentenced to death in the Shreveport area in December. He has just begun appealing his conviction and sentence.

The case is Kennedy v. Louisiana, 07-343.
The Associated Press: Court meeting to weigh death penalty for child rapists

I have NO sympathy for child molestors.....hang em' high!!:mad:

Have a good one!:s4:

Hey!! Here is something you and I can agree on! :thumbsup:

LMAO!!! It had to happen some day, year, decade huh? I've got NO time or patience for these sort of people. Hell, these days you get a lighter sentence for grabbing some childs ass than ya do for selling and ounce of weed!:mad:

Have a good one!:s4:

I am so fucking behind this! I believe the act of raping ANYONE should have the penalty of death. And not this pussy needle in your arm, I'm talking some violent shit.

And I would be honored to be the one that gets to do it. These people are scum.

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Originally Posted by rebgirl420

And not this pussy needle in your arm, I'm talking some violent shit.

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If I had to be killed for something, I'd so go with a violent death rather than needle. The needle is the worst punishment, because you don't even die like a man.

Dude, I honestly have to say when I saw the topic for this thread, I was completely expecting you (whoever posted it) to say they were against the death penalty. I am genuinely glad I didn't find a bunch of pussy bleeding hearts who think that the death penalty is cruel. Does anyone else find it in fascinating while watching shows like Lockup on MSNBC that even in prisons filled with violent criminals, in literally every prison in America they have to isolate the people who fuck with kids from the other criminals because they'll get fucking beat to death? I think that is the shit. The death penalty is the fucking tits...

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Originally Posted by pinkyslayer

Dude, I honestly have to say when I saw the topic for this thread, I was completely expecting you (whoever posted it) to say they were against the death penalty. I am genuinely glad I didn't find a bunch of pussy bleeding hearts who think that the death penalty is cruel. Does anyone else find it in fascinating while watching shows like Lockup on MSNBC that even in prisons filled with violent criminals, in literally every prison in America they have to isolate the people who fuck with kids from the other criminals because they'll get fucking beat to death? I think that is the shit. The death penalty is the fucking tits...

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Hahahahahaha this guy is fucking brilliant. :thumbsup:

Kill all peodos, nuff said.

I'm a big advocate of the death penalty but I think this maybe going a bit too far. If you're going to use the death penalty you better make sure they are 100% guilty. And as we have seen numerous times innocent people have been put to death or have been on death row for years. I personally feel the death penalty should be broadened to cover people that killed someone in a car accident while talking on the cellphone. I do not believe in killing people that have not killed someone else. Pedophiles should be given 1 chance to get there shit together with a lifetime commitment to some sort of physcological counselling. If they screw that up then they should never be released again.

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Originally Posted by killerweed420

I'm a big advocate of the death penalty but I think this maybe going a bit too far. If you're going to use the death penalty you better make sure they are 100% guilty. And as we have seen numerous times innocent people have been put to death or have been on death row for years......

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"And as we have seen numerous times innocent people have been put to death"

What are your sources for this? There's been cases of people being released from death row and exonerated, but there is not a single case of anybody that was legally executed and later officially proven innocent in court.

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Originally Posted by killerweed420

Pedophiles should be given 1 chance to get there shit together with a lifetime commitment to some sort of psychological counseling.

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I couldn't disagree more.

Any coward who rapes another human being deserves the harshest punishment available. "An eye for an eye" would be nice, but I think the government would have more of a problem hiring people to rape a rapist than they would simply signing a piece of paper saying "if you rape someone, and are found guilty, we just might sentence you to death." If they're found guilty of raping a defenseless child, they shouldn't be allowed the liberty of spending years on death row... the sentence should be carried out while they sit before the judge, and the family of the victim.

If this ever happened to my child, the molester had better hope that he gets the death penalty, or life imprisonment. Because if I ever got a hold of him on the outside, he'd genuinely wish he had never been born.

Innocent people have soo been killed by the justice system and if anyone thinks otherwise your naive...I think the death penelty is great for people who rape kids,but on the other side if your going to get death for raping someone then your not going to leave a witness right so your more likely to kill the person your raping witch isnt good.Now saying that isnt it better to have a rapist put in jail for life and then have the inmates take care of him,

This will only result in more deaths of children because the rapist will have no reason to let them live since they will die either way. If sparing a rapists life also spares the life of their victim then it's worth it. The death penalty should never be used as a form of payback, that type of barbaric mentality only causes more problems in the long run.

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Originally Posted by Nailhead

This will only result in more deaths of children because the rapist will have no reason to let them live since they will die either way. If sparing a rapists life also spares the life of their victim then it's worth it. The death penalty should never be used as a form of payback, that type of barbaric mentality only causes more problems in the long run.

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If the death penalty isnt used as a form of payback, what is it used for? I don't think it's barbaric at all to do to someone else what they have done to an innocent person, especially a CHILD. The purpose of the death penalty is to punish the criminal for ending someone's life prematurely...sending a murderer or rapist to prison for life is no big deal at all to a large percentage of criminals sentenced to life, since many of them have been in and out of prison since they were young. It's just like going back home to them...you can call it barbaric if you want, but hearing about a person that murdered and raped someone being put to death makes me feel good inside, because it reaffirms, just for a while, that maybe our society is a whole isn't totally fucked just yet.

If killing someone makes you feel better about yourself, then you have issues. You also just ignored what I said about how this will cause more kids to be killed at the hands of a rapist, but I guess that doesn't matter, right? As long as we are killing someone, we are a good society, right?

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Originally Posted by Nailhead

If killing someone makes you feel better about yourself, then you have issues. You also just ignored what I said about how this will cause more kids to be killed at the hands of a rapist, but I guess that doesn't matter, right? As long as we are killing someone, we are a good society, right?

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So what is your solution to deter these assholes?

Have a good one!:s4:

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Originally Posted by Nailhead

If killing someone makes you feel better about yourself..........As long as we are killing someone, we are a good society, right?

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There should be alternatives to the death penalty.

Convicted inmates could be used for a variety of useful purposes, such as guinea pigs in dangerous medical experiments, being shot to other planets in space ships and monitored for survival and human adaptability, "gladiator" show broadcasts on pay-per-view TV to raise money for the families and loved ones of their victims, and many other ways.

you know what you guys are fucked....rapists are going to kill there victims if they are going to be killed if they get caught......so wouldnt it be better for the victim if that person was to be caught to spend the rest of his life in jail and let the criminals take care of him???

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Originally Posted by fishman3811

....rapists are going to kill there victims if they are going to be killed if they get caught......

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Or......maybe they'll make a concerted effort not to be a rapist in the first place. As of right now, a rapist can get away with their crime with only a handful of years in prison. Then, if they make it out, they're free to rape again. If the consequences are stricter, maybe they'll think twice. I think the world can agree that rapists and pedophiles could use a little more than a slap on the wrist for their disgusting crimes.

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Originally Posted by Nailhead

If killing someone makes you feel better about yourself, then you have issues. You also just ignored what I said about how this will cause more kids to be killed at the hands of a rapist, but I guess that doesn't matter, right? As long as we are killing someone, we are a good society, right?

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I don't understand how I have issues because I find satisfaction in knowing that a criminal who has MURDERED another human being got what he DESERVED. Seriously, can you really not identify with me even a little bit? I don't know how old you are or if you have children, but imagine that someone kidnapped and raped your little daughter, or murdered your mother. You honestly don't think you would want that man to die? I'll tell you something, if someone did that to someone I love, I wouldn't have to wait for the death penalty to end their life. I think what you said about the rapists being more apt to kill their victim is a good point, but I tend to agree more with Mr. Clandestine and think that this law would make people think twice before they rape a fucking child. Criminals prey on people today, among many other reasons, because they know that they can commit a crime and then get a bleeding heart liberal fuck ass lawyer to come to court and blame it on his childhood or his broken home or his being oppressed by society and give all these bullshit reasons why their client should only serve two years or whatever for raping someone. If they knew they would die for raping someone, maybe they'd be a little less hesitant to snatch up your daughter walking home from school one day. Just think about it, brother.

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Originally Posted by Breukelen advocaat

There should be alternatives to the death penalty.

Convicted inmates could be used for a variety of useful purposes, such as guinea pigs in dangerous medical experiments, being shot to other planets in space ships and monitored for survival and human adaptability, "gladiator" show broadcasts on pay-per-view TV to raise money for the families and loved ones of their victims, and many other ways.

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I also agree with this. I would love to see some pedos battle each other to the death with rust fish hooks and spoons...it's a win-win situation every fight.

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This will only result in more deaths of children because the rapist will have no reason to let them live since they will die either way. If sparing a rapists life also spares the life of their victim then it's worth it.

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I hate having to agree with this but it is true. To me the paedophile is the lowest form of life on this planet and I would just lock them up with the other prisoners rather than keep them in their own safe little section, let Bubba and his mates deal with them.

:cool:

off with their heads !!!

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hang em' high!!

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yeah man!

dont pick on the defenseless in any, way, shape, or form

it violates A growing soul
child abuse is ugly and dammaging

we are not pin cushions

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Originally Posted by pinkyslayer

I don't know how old you are or if you have children, but imagine that someone kidnapped and raped your little daughter, or murdered your mother. You honestly don't think you would want that man to die? I'll tell you something, if someone did that to someone I love, I wouldn't have to wait for the death penalty to end their life.

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I don't see what the satisfaction is from watching someone get an injection then slowly fall asleep, it's not like they are entertaining anymore like when we had the good ol' electric chair, or the guillotine, or better yet, why don't we bring back gladiators? Put the child rapists on one team, pit them up against the cracked out murderers, give them a bunch of mid-evil weapons and let's pack our stadiums. At least if that was the case, I might agree, but until then as long as they are locked away I don't see the difference. It's not like they are going to have a fun time in the slammer, come on.

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At least if that was the case, I might agree, but until then as long as they are locked away I don't see the difference. It's not like they are going to have a fun time in the slammer, come on.

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It costs a fortune to keep them in there as they need to be protected from the general population who would (here in Oz anyway) do everything possible to make their lives more of a living hell than their victims had suffered before arranging an "accident", even the worst criminals here have no tolerance for paedophiles and that's probably because quite a few of them are victims themselves.

:cool:

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Originally Posted by fishman3811

you know what you guys are fucked....rapists are going to kill there victims if they are going to be killed if they get caught......so wouldnt it be better for the victim if that person was to be caught to spend the rest of his life in jail and let the criminals take care of him???

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Fishman.......do ya really think this is just a U.S. problem? Seems from this link YOU people have the same issues:
Sex Offeder Recidivism

Have a good one!:s4:

P4B your right we do have the same problem but in Canada we dont have the death penelty so putting rapists in jail is the only solution we have.What i think is a perect solution to rapists is to castrate them and if they reoffend which is highly unlikley then cut of their penis let them pee in a bag....but killing rapists will only make it worse for their victim....

Really, there is no punishment harsh enough to give to a paedophile, it would be nice if we could just cull them from the human race though.

Australia's "Paedophile/Sex offender registry"

:cool:

If proven beyond a reasonable that they are guilty of such a barbaric crime :mad: they deserve the death sentence.:thumbsup:
If they plead insanity then they are mentally sick, If your dog was mentally sick and it went about savaging people you would put that dog down.

i have to agree with clandestine in they should be beat and raped but the weirdos wil probly like it.

pedophiles get less time than cannabis patients in some states which is bs if we torture and kiil them the next man will think twice about commiting the same crime (Machiavelli).

until the 70s murder was only punishable by a few years in prison not life or the death penalty. after this change in law the murder rate decreased dramatically cause now people think twice.