...but I could be persuaded to change my mind on this subject: Should child rapists be put to death?
Currently, capital murder is the only constitutionally sanctioned application of the death penalty in many states. Louisiana seeks to change that application with arguments in front of the SCOTUS this week.
Closer to home,
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R) has asked his state's legislature to impose the death penalty on child rapists after the high-profile case of a man who kidnapped a boy and held him captive for four years. Michael J. Devlin received 74 life sentences, but Blunt questioned whether that was "sufficient" for his crimes.
Opponents of allowing these fragments of human debris to be executed for the rape of a child argue that:
Expanding the death penalty to include non-homicidal rape would separate the United States from other Western nations and align it with "only a sliver" of the world, including China, Saudi Arabia and Egypt..."
Not the best of company.
KC Crime Scene has some excellent links.
