Talk Elections

I support it for both.

What was the Constitutional argument for the decision?

I support the court's decision.

Death for murder is a fair punishment... eye for an eye as I said in the ruling thread.  Death for child rape sounds like a emotion-based lynching to me.

Eighth amendment "...nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

Article XIX, Section 48(a), subsection (vii), "the death penalty for child rape is cruel and unusual."

This was another 5-4 decision, another Roberts or Alito on the court and it would have gone the other way.

I strongly agree with the Courts decision. I am personally opposed to Capital Punishment in all cases.

And that would indeed explain your agreement with the decision--provided you think that the Supreme Court should strike down anything that is bad.

I agree with the court's decision.

Support for murder, but not just rape.

I oppose the death penalty in all cases.  As disgusting and vile as pedophile rapists are, no living and breathing person deserves to die.  That said, they should never see the light of day again.

The supremes call is a very close one in my mind. I posted elsewhere about it. I would have agonized about this were were I on the Court.

I oppose capital punishment regardless of the crime.

I am for restitution for the victim with regards to criminal punishment. Whereas the victim is dead in the case for a murder, and thus the only just restitution is the death penalty, the child victim in the case of a rape is still alive to receive restitution, thus a more proper punishment would be for the criminal to provide payment for damages to the child. However, executing the child rapist doesn't accomplish anything. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court decision was a case of judicial activism.

Sending child rapists to prisons is perfect when it comes to fair punishment as they will likely get raped by a life sentence guy name Tyrone.  Once that happens, the victim can forever say "now you know how it feels (to be helplessly pinned down and penetrated*)!"

*that part is implied

If you were Don Imus, you'd be getting heat for having the raping prisoner's name be Tyrone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrone_Power

I have a white friend named Angelique.

One would assume that 'sexual offenders' would be kept in their own wing, both for the sake of humane treatment and to facilitate the running of the prison.

Of course I oppose the death penalty for any 'crime', but it seems particularly absurd to allow the State to kill someone who has not even taken a human life.  Not very proportional, now is it?

If the punishment for child rape and for child rape with murder is the same, then that makes the additional penalty for murder zero. Do you really want to make it in the interest of child rapists to murder their victims?
Anyway, I oppose this ruling because the constitutional grounds in which it has been decided are faulty.

The probem we have in the United States is that our prison system is weak. The system is suppose to be a form of punishment (not to exceed the 8th amendment of course). Prisions get cable TV and some even get conjugal visits. What ever happened to hard labor and chain gangs? They are in prision to punished for their crimes. Prision should be a punishment that will make people wish that they were dead instead.

Until we revamp the prison system and make it harsh for murders and rapists, the death penalty needs to stay in tact.

Personally, I would actually favor the death penalty for child rapists and hard labor for murders.

That is a lose-lose situation, though. Surely you think that the victim of a crime should receive proper restitution? If so, then shouldn't the prisoner be providing that restitution rather than doing hard labor for a prison?

What garbage.  You should join in the rollicking fun of prison life, Mikey.  I'm quite sure you would not find it anything less than a brutal torture.

"Life ends quickly enough without any intervention from the state."  -opebo

Forced labor for life seems like an appropriate punishment than the death penalty.

Regardless about how I feel about the Death Penalty, executing people for reasons other than that they killed someone really does feel more like lynching.

Agreed. (I oppose the death penalty in general, but there is less support for DP in this case than there is for executing a murderer.)

For child rapists placed in the general population (as usually happens) life imprisonment is a far worse punishment than those you list.

I don't feel particularly strongly about capital punishment when it used for murderers, though I feel firmly against it for rape.

Overall I would say I tend to lean towards opposing the death penalty in all cases.

I'm situational in this regard. I support the death penalty for some murders and some rapes (child or not) while I don't support it for others, depending on the circumstances surrounding the crime and the conclusiveness of the evidence against the accused.

This Supreme Court decision is "correct" in the sense that it is consistent with the Court's precedents and with the analytical framework it has applied in prior cases. Of course, that analytical framework is itself highly suspect, as Justice Scalia has explained in a number of his dissents.

Forced labor for whom? The victim or some company that wants to profit from slave labor? If its the former, then that might be a little harsh, but the victim must consent to it; it makes no sense why a judge knows better how to punish someone than the victim themselves. If its the latter, than it is a lose-lose situation. The rapist is a slave, and the victim hasn't been provided any restitution. The only entity to win from this situation is a government-backed company.