Organization Tries To Change Law So That Child Molesters Get Life In Prison Or The Death Penalty

[ecstatic]

Justice for Christopher Foundation, Inc.

"Demanding Justice for Christopher,
Demanding Justice for All."

The main goal and focus of the foundation is to demand justice for our children and to protect them from sexual predators. We demand a change in the laws that will guarantee anyone who commits a sexual act towards a child, will be given the maximum penalty of life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Should this act result in the death of the child, the offender should thus receive the death penalty. We also demand that those sexual predators who are grandfathered out of this law, receive a more strict probation. If this probation is violated, the sexual predator shall receive life imprisonment.

http://www.justiceforchristopher.org/mission.htm

Do you agree with this proposal? I do, but only if they are 100% positive that the person is guilty. I'm generally Anti-DP but everything changes when a child is involved.

[BlueJazz]

1. Don't believe in the Death Penalty or Murder

[Kagemusha]

2. First thing that pops out at me: "commits a sexual act"

In other words, the sledgehammer regardless of what the hell was involved, just treat them all as lifers without regard to the severity of the crime.

If we were talking purely rapists, maybe I'd stop to listen. As it is, someone who kisses a kid the wrong way (and how do we define 'children' here in the first place?) becomes a lifer. Or a corpse.

[struggle4progress]

20. Sure! Life imprisonment for anyone who is seen by a child while urinating in public! For any

seventeen year old kid who has sex with his or her fifteen or sixteen year old boyfriend or girlfriend! And for all those parents who claim that the photos of their infants naked on the living room floor were merely intended as cute additions to their scrapbooks!

[TahitiNut]

32. Let's not forget those convicted of such acts who're actually innocent.

Funny how folks pretend that the "justice system" nearly always gets it right - despite massive evidence to the contrary. (e.g. "The Innocence Project")

http://www.innocenceproject.org/

[struggle4progress]

71. Like the McMartin Preschool case in CA, the Wee School Nursery School case in NJ, or

the Little Rascals Day Care center case in NC?

If only the accused in those cases had been executed, quickly, we wouldn't have to listen to people point out that they actually turned out to be innocent!

[Deja Q]

3. Myself having been molested as a child, my future has been a struggle...

If there's enough evidence and no room for reason of doubt, fry the pigs that do that sort of atrocity to children.

[CitizenLeft]

62. I'm so sorry, HypnoToad

:hug: Peace to you.

[uhhuh]

63. Every One Of Them?

How do you feel about this scenario?

A 4 year old boy is lured, first with treats and toys, and then with threats of violence by a 13 or 14 year old girl, to a place under the stairwell in an apartment building they both lived in. The boy is required to perform oral sex on the girl before he is permitted to leave. She would alternately threaten or hold him him after the act, depending on her mood.
I'm sure the subject of the abuse in this scenario has suffered for his experiences, and the predator probably has victimized others since then. I know this scenario to be true for a fact. What method of execution would be appropriate for her? It seems you favor electrocution??

[Bluzmann57]

4. The vermin should get life

And they should have a miserable life. I mean no contact at all with the world. No newspapers, TV, radio, internet, phones, magazines, or anything else. Child molesters are the lowest of the low and should be treated as such. My suggestions would likely be worse than death, so life wothout parole and the other stuff I said should be applied.

[WinkyDink]

5. I think such penalties might even stop children from naming the family perps.

But maybe not.

[mitchum]

6. I only support the death penalty for murder...

this organization is also quite vague about "Christopher", the particulars of the crime, etc...

[Flabbergasted]

7. Pedophiles like alcoholics never truly recover.

No problem with life or death penalty depending on the circumstances however I chose other because I believe it should depend on the circumstances.

[pretty_lies]

8. Other - Mandatory Surgical Castration

It's humane and very effective.

[undergroundpanther]

24. Yeah up to a point

They still got hands tho.
I would rather them die. But.. if you have them live give them no chance to get out.
The pie eyed idiots that pity the molesters will whine about how awful it is,how inhumane to castrate these molesters, maybe they pity those that do not care because they have never been molested themselves.Fortunate circumstances blind people to reality so easy.

[pretty_lies]

40. Nah.

What's the point in inflicting pain, being cruel? We aren't living in the middle ages. The point is to make sure they don't reoffend and to help these people if we can.

Surgical removal of the testicles is humane, effective, and cuts the reoffense rate to zero or nearly zero. I have no idea why we don't do this for all sex offenders already.

[varkam]

54. Actually it doesn't cut the reoffense rate very much.

But, then again, the reoffense rates for offenders are low already, so it's tough to know how significant such a course is. Also, how - exactly - is permanently disfiguring someone "humane"?

[TahitiNut]

33. How do you propose UNdoing such a thing for the wrongfully-convicted?

I guess they just don't matter, huh? :eyes:

How do you propose performing such a procedure on Mary Kay LeTourneau??

[pretty_lies]

39. Answers!

So what I propose is to surgically remove the testicles of male first-time sex offenders, and then give them either a short sentence or a suspended sentence altogether. I'm not proposing it as a punishment, rather as treatment. Sex offenders, rapists and pedophiles, cannot control their sex urges. Many studies in Scandinavia show that surgical castration cuts the reoffense rate from 80% to less than 2%. Some studies show that there are no reoffenses at all.

The argument "what about wrongful conviction"? is the same for any kind of criminal sentence short of the death penalty. Castration doesn't ruin your life any worse than a lengthy false conviction. In fact, using Neuticles, it makes no physical difference. Substantial numbers of castrated Scandinavian sex offenders have even been able to have normal sexual relationships with adults subsequently.

As for female sex offenders, I don't know of any studies that address this. There don't seem to be many female sex offenders. This woman you mention, Letorneau, she had sex with a 13-year-old, which isn't the same as pedophilia (attraction to PRE-pubescents), so I wouldn't put her in the same category as these scum who raped the 6-year-old. If there were a lot of these people, we should try different hormone or surgical therapies. Be pragmatic. See what works.

[TahitiNut]

51. Well, if Latorneau is given a pass, how about Jennifer Leigh Rice??

Jennifer Leigh Rice, a 31-year-old former Tacoma teacher, was charged with having sex with a 10-year-old boy who had been in her fourth-grade class. The boy's father says she lavished the boy with attention until she was told not to come to their house anymore.

So she abducted the boy, police say, drove him to a highway rest stop outside Ellensburg and had sex with him. After her arrest in early August, Rice said she'd had sex with the boy four or five times, including once when she sneaked into his house as his parents slept.

I guess she gets a pass, too?

:shrug:

Most reputable estimates of the rate of female sexual offenses puts it somewhere between 4% and 10% (even though there are some far higher estimates, also reputable). But folks just don't seem to be too concerned. (Maybe they think "boys can take it better.") Like prison rape, I've seen a lot of snickering. Strange.

[Richard Steele]

55. You just admitted that your "solution" would make no difference. eom

[varkam]

56. Contradiction.

If rapists and pedophiles cannot control their urges, and surgical castration cuts reoffense to zero, then how can many ex-offenders have normal sexual relationships with adults? Does removing the testicles somehow rewire their neural circuitry?

[LisaL]

73. Oh give me a break. You can't seriously be suggesting that

castration doesn't ruin someone's life.
And believe me, this is something that will never be done, because if there is cruel or unusual punishment, castration got to be it. I have no problem with it if a sex offender wants it done, but it can not possibly be done against someone's will.

[Nutmegger]

9. I strongly disagree...

First and foremost, I am against the death penalty in all circumstances. I'm not going to bend my principals in "certain cases". Not. In. My. Name.

I strongly disagree with this. This "tough on crime" bullshit is not going to solve the problem. It has been shown that recidivism is low and that rehabilitation does work in certain circumstances. Better to have a person who can be rehabilitated, released and integrated back into society then to have one truly innocent person spend life behind bars being tortured by the thugs and killers while the guards look the other way (thanks guards!).

I foresee bullshit written laws too, i.e. the "Romeo and Juliet" laws. It's already happening now, and with this they will spend the rest of their lives in prison for nonsense.

If a person is deemed a threat to society by qualified individuals, then that person should remain behind bars. It should be made on a case by case basis. Not just casting a net and hoping everything will be all right.

Oh and they should be treated humanly as well. I will not look the other way while some murderer or street thug tortures other inmates.

[Psyop Samurai]

13. What Nutmegger said...

Out of curiosity, does everyone here know who "Christopher" is? I certainly don't, and I made a sincere effort to find out by visiting their website.

I'm pretty much done with this whole framing, and the "HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS?" bait is a non-starter for obvious reasons.

Now, if it said, "how well do you know your satanic elite, with their ties to human trafficking, pedophile rings, torture, and every other manner of abomination, who practice their arts entirely insulated from and beyond the reach of ANY law", then I might be interested. Until then, we're only digging our own graves deeper.

Think, people. I like kittens too.

[LisaL]

15. Christopher is a child who was murdered.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,260421,00.html

[Psyop Samurai]

18. Thank you for the link...

My God, how sickening.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

30. Recidivism is low?

Would you cite your sources, please? That goes against everything I've read.

[varkam]

52. Check out the Center for Sex Offender Management

It's an adjunct of the DoJ. Also, the Human Rights Watch just released a report that contains all the relevant info.

[Heidi]

60. Here's a link to the report varkam mentioned.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/rsorp94.pdf

[sandnsea]

31. Generally, I agree

Except I think two separate child molestation incidents qualifies for that case by case threat. I also think everybody in prison should be treated humanely. The point is to for damaged people to gain a new outlook and I don't know how that happens when people are being subjected to the kind of degradation and humiliation that happens in prison, when it's not physical assaults and worse.

[TahitiNut]

57. As a fellow Nut, I agree.

:thumbsup:

I find it interesting that the four people responsible for the sexual molestation and murder of the child whose father is sponsoring this petition include a primary offender, his father, his mother, and a 'friend.'

How's that for "family values"?

:puke:

[Ms. Toad]

10. Neither.

I have worked extensively with rape survivors, ranging in age from ages 3 to 80+. I am also a rape survivor. The impact of rape on its survivors is far more devastating than the impact of any other crime targeted at individuals. The rape I survived was "mild" compared to that lived through by many of the women whose hands I held in the aftermath. It was 20 years before I had healed enough for my mind to allow me to feel some aspects of how that event changed my life - and, who knows, I may well discover more in the future.

That said, I do not want the death penalty or life imprisonment mandated.

I am fundamentally opposed to using the death penalty as punishment for any crime.

With respect to life imprisonment, obtaining a conviction for a sex crime is difficult. Juries tend not to want to convict because, in many instances, there is only the survivor's word against the attackers and jurors are reluctant to convict when there is no hard evidence (particularly when the survivor is a minority and her attacker is not). Imposing a penalty that severe, particularly a mandatory one, will make it even harder to convict these monsters - and more will go without any punishment at all.

[LisaL]

12. Well, maybe juries are reluctant to convict because

evidence beyond a reasonable doubt is required by the court of law. If there is no physical evidence it might be very difficult to conclude someone is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Just recently a guy was released from prison where he sat for 18 years convicted of child rape because it turns out he didn't do it after DNA tests. Another guy has been convicted of rape and murder because his child niece said he did it. Turns out she was wrong.
When you have a child as a witness because children are very impressionable it's easy for them to make a mistake in identification.

[Ms. Toad]

16. That supports my point

Whether children are "more impressionable" and prone to "make a mistake in identification," or are just believed to be, people just like you are on juries.

The horrendous nature of the crime is sometimes enough to overcome a jury's hesitance to rely on the word of a child alone to punish someone when "all" that is at stake is a few years in jail. Unfortunately, there is often no (or at best inconclusive) physical evidence - and rarely are there corroborating witnesses. If a jury is aware that a conviction means death or life imprisonment, it will be virtually impossible to get a conviction, except in the relatively rare case where there is physical evidence or an (unbiased) corroborating witnesses.

That will ultimately mean fewer convictions, and more monsters staying free to damage more children. (It may also mean more innocent individuals who avoiding false conviction. however since this thread is focused on obtaining justice for the victim, that is the focus of my response - the proposed law is likely to decrease the quantity of rapists being punished, even if it increases the "quality" of punishment for the smaller number actually convicted.)

[LisaL]

21. When someone goes in prison for a very long time

based on child eyewitness testimony alone, and it turns out the child was mistaken, what are you gonna do? Those are very serious crimes and they already carry very serious penalties, yet eyewitness testimony is not particularly reliable, and when you deal with a child, it's a whole another story in my opinion.

[Ms. Toad]

26. Children's recitation of assaults are generally pretty accurate,

particularly since children who are raped are most often raped by individuals they know well, and identification is not really an issue. The reluctance is primarily to relying on what the child said happened. (Maybe the child misunderstood what was going on. Maybe it really was only daddy's finger putting diaper ointment on or checking out a boo-boo. Maybe Aunt Mary just slipped when she was pulling up the zipper. Etc.) If you had listened to as many children as I have, sitting in the emergency room waiting for their first vaginal exam at age 4-7, I suspect you would have a different opinion as to the reliability of children's testimony.

But putting aside whether children's testimony is reliable (or even reliable in comparison to an adult's), the point is that people who populate juries (people just like you) believe it is unreliable and will be reluctant to convict. If we increase the penalties to death or life imprisonment, and the reluctance to convict also grows. That means that increasing the penalties will only make the problem the bill is proposed to address (obtaining justice for child rape survivors) worse.

We don't have to agree as to the reliability of children's testimony to agree that convictions will be less likely if the penalties are increased. Personally, I don't want to do anything to make it harder to obtain a conviction, and this proposal will make it harder.

[LisaL]

65. Identification not really an issue? I guess that is what the jury

thought when the man's niece said he was the one who killed her grandma? Well, turns out she was mistaken but the guy spend 7 years in prison convicted of rape and murder. Turns out he did not do it after DNA tests were done. Another guy just released spend 18 years in prison for rape, again on eyewitness testimony of a child. DNA tests though finally done did not link him to that crime, though.

[Ms. Toad]

74. Eyewitness observation of a child awakened

in the middle of the night and thrust into chaos in a dark room in which someone is killing your grandmother is quite different than the usual scenario for sexual assault of a child.

In the Elkins case, the only real question was who did it. That is not the typical child rape case. Typically, the rape or sexual assault of a child begins with the attacker spending a considerable amount of time building trust and grooming the child to be a victim. Although there are occasionally instances in which identification is an issue, in the typical case identification it is not an issue because the child knows her attacker well - it is just that no one can believe what the child says "uncle george" did to her (or the babysitter, the next door neighbor, the priest, etc).

Aside from being atypical, with respect to the Elkins case - lets just say he was no angel, there was recent family history that supported the girl's identification, and evidence was provided by a psychologist who was suspended from the practice of psychology a couple of years later (and although she put on a good front in public at the time of the trial, the impairment for which she was suspended was well entrenched by then and (in my opinion) contributed to her being an unreliable witness (http://psychology.ohio.gov/discip/p3137.pdf)). It was not just the identification by a child that led to his conviction. Go read the case files if you want to know more. They are, for the most part, public record.

None of the above is to say that his case was not a terrible miscarriage of justice, or that he deserved to be convicted of this crime because he had threatened his family on other occasions, just that it was more than the child's testimony that convinced the jury to convict him.

I don't have any direct knowledge of the second case you mentioned.

[moobu2]

11. The harsher the punishment, the

more children will be murdered simply because they are witnesses to the crime, usually the only witness.

[ecstatic]

64. That may be true... That's why it is necessary to keep the perps forever once caught

Because once they've shown themselves to be capable of child molestation, then it's clear that they are a threat to society and kids.

[NashVegas]

14. No Freaking Way

Sexual abuse victims have enough to deal with, without adding someone's execution to it.

[undergroundpanther]

22. I would love

to throw the kill switch on the piece of shit that molested me.

Why do you think you can speak for all survivors? You should be empathic enough to just speak for yourself.But you sit there and tell me I shouldn't concern myself with the death of the pig that hurt me? WTF?

Unlike you,I do want all molesters and rapists killed. Because I hate psychopaths.I hate them and the trauma they create by their putrid existence and the goddamn enablers that pity them..I want them all gone.Gone into a grave where they cannot escape,cannot play Nice to get good behavior points, get paroled,or ever hurt another person again.
Death penalty is not a deterrent it is an UN-ESCAPABLE JAIL.

[NashVegas]

67. I'm Sorry

It's pretty obvious that you still have a lot of anger to get past, and I wish you the very best in that, there's no magic formula. Even when the rage is gone, there's always something. It's like a screen door behind you. It is closed, but now and then you get turned around.

[porphyrian]

17. I don't agree with any mandatory minimum sentences.

Each case should be judged individually. Those found guilty should be punished in accordance with the severity of their crime, not as revenge for a previous injustice.

[undergroundpanther]

19. I think

All those utopians who think molesters can be reformed(they can't)
Should be forced to work with these disgusting shits be the guards that interact with them walk past their cells get shit tossed at them from the people they think want rehab,let the love Peace and understanding types put their utopian crap to reality.It is easy to talk of rehab when you never been hurt or around such vile scum yourself.

I support the death penalty yet I don't trust the state to do it.For now I guess lock them up until they die.Or offer them a suicide option. Unlike the Pollyanna's here who know NOTHING about molesters or psychopathy and are in denial about recidivism rates on these toxic shits, I also know molesters never get cured.
And they cannot ever be trusted. Or free. Let the Pollyanna's babysit molesters in jail and take care of them,They are perfect for each other.

Love given to the WRONG PERSON does nothing good, but it can lead to some innocent kid getting traumatized. A molester is a waste of skin, a boundary breaking ,asshole that does not deserve to live among people and he cannot be trusted to.I myself wish every single rapist,molester,abuser, torturer,psychopath ect..was dead the instant they began to do their crimes they need the instant 'karma'.

[BlooInBloo]

23. Must not be a republican-loving outfit.

[undergroundpanther]

25. wanting to put

molesters in a grave is not a republican issue.For me it is a survival issue.A social survival issue as well.

[Jed Dilligan]

27. Push poll

Being against life imprisonment for this class of crime doesn't mean you think the criminals can be reformed.

[Kelly Rupert]

28. Nah. Castration, 5 years, and release. n/t

[TahitiNut]

35. So, removing May Kay LeTourneau's ovaries would solve things?

Fascinating.

:eyes:

[Kelly Rupert]

37. I think I'm pretty clearly talking about male offenders there.

If we want to pick nits, who is May Kay? I've heard of Mary Kay, but no May Kay.

[TahitiNut]

44. Oh? Well, castration of females is performed by removing the ovaries.

It's not an exclusively male reference. It's interesting you'd think it is.

:shrug:

[Kelly Rupert]

50. Yes, but chemical castration is frequently proposed

(and has, when put in practice, been proven extremely effective) for male offenders. I have never heard castration proposed for female offenders, most likely because it is, as you point out, not as effective.

[sandnsea]

29. Those victimized are so broken

I think those who grow up to commit the most horrific crimes were often sexually assaulted. Child molestation is in such a different category, causes so much harm, the offenders need to be permanently removed from society.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

34. Yes, it's true a lot of them were sexually abused

It's also true a lot of them weren't. Most sociopaths were probably neglected, not abused, and yes, that's sad, but it is very hard to rehabilitate a sociopath. I'm not for the death penalty, though, I believe these creeps do go on to commit other crimes.

ETA - There's a lot of victims right here on DU, who didn't go on to repeat the cycle. It's the other stuff - like having a sociopathic personality - that allows them to go on to abuse, and that is much harder to "fix."

[Prophet 451]

36. Other, and a query

What does "grandfathered out of this law" mean? It's not a term I've ever come across in British (I'm a Brit) law.

I have some sympathy with the idea that child molesters should be locked away for life. I doubt the possibility of rehabilitation on this for the simple reason that the trait appears to be in-born. However, I wouldn't agree with imposing the death penalty, even on murderers, as a matter of course. I'm a supporter of the DP under certain, very extreme circumstances (i.e. Fred and Rose West) but not as a mandatory measure.

[Kelly Rupert]

38. That would refer to those

who are not affected by the law, as the crime was committed before the law came into play. Applying the law thusly would violate the ex post facto clause of the Constitution.

[Prophet 451]

41. Thank you

We don't have a codified Constitution here but it would violate Dicey's laws which have heavily influenced British law for centuries.

[Kelly Rupert]

43. No problem. If you're curious, the term "grandfathered" is something of an Americanism,

coming from (embarrassingly enough) the Jim Crow period, in which voters frequently were exempt from poll taxes and literacy tests if their ancestors were able to vote before the civil war--in practice, if they were white.

The original "grandfather clauses" were found unconstitutional in 1915, but the legal world had by then found a rather useful term. Nowadays, "grandfather" is a verb meaning something along the lines of "to exempt a person, class, or entity from being affected by a regulation, by virtue of respect for a preexisting contract." The most common place you'll hear about it, in my experience, will be regarding buildings constructed before a safety code was enacted.

[TheUniverse]

42. No Death penalty for anyone, no exceptions.

If we captured Hitler in WW2, I'd give him a life sentence with no torture. I dont want to think that my tax dollars are going to kill defenseless people.

[pretty_lies]

46. I Don't Understand What's Wrong With The Death Penalty

Obviously the state has the power to take life. It can start wars and kill thousands of its own soldiers and foreigners on sketchy evidence. None of these people have million dollar trials and appeals processes. And it has the power of life and death in many other ways, like medical care, social services, emissions standards for deadly pollution and so on.

So why shouldn't it be able to kill people who've done something so bad they should never be allowed into society again?

Now, I don't think the DP's a great idea for sex offenders. Surgical castration is the way to go, it's humane, and it works.

But in principle, the DP doesn't seem like a terrible thing for the small number of offenders who are truly beyond rehabilitation.

[TheUniverse]

48. Let me explain why i am against the death penalty.

Wars do have a purpose. The problem is, our society is way too eager to get in wars for abstract reasons such as stopping the spread of communism, or promoting democracy, or whatever sham excuse the politicians come up with to hide the real reason for wars. I believe the only reason to ever go to war is in self defense when every single diplomatic effort has failed. As a result, I don't support most wars. And even the wars that seemed neccessary, I even find some many problems in the execution of them.

People are willing to give the government the power to kill way too often. The only reason the government should every kill anyone is to protect an innocent person, and only as a last measure. I dont like to give the government the power of God, that's why I dont like the government killing people. Thats why in every single case I am against the death penalty. There is just something immoral about killing someone who isn't a threat anymore. And regardless of fantasies about the death penalty, the reality is, that a lot of people put to death are innocent, and the death row inmates have an unusually high segment of African Americans as a result of racial profiling.

[NYC Liberal]

75. Here's what is wrong:

Murder carries the death penalty.
Child rape carries the death penalty.

Given that the punishment is death either way, why would a child rapist not simply kill the witness?

In fact, more kids will be murdered (not just molested) if we institute the DP for this. And that's not even going into any kind of moral/ethical objection to the DP in general.

[Vektor]

47. How do you figure

that a sex offender is "defenseless?"

I am confused by your statement. We are not talking about innocent, "defenseless" people, the thread is about rapists.

[TheUniverse]

49. If you are given life in prison with no chance of parole.

And then put in a cell with no weapons, then by all means you are defenseless, even if you are a evil person.

[Vektor]

58. Hmmm.

I suppose that's one way of looking at it. I guess I am unused to considering criminals "defenseless."

The term is usually reserved for "innocents." The literal way in which you are using the term makes sense in that regard. I just have a difficult time seeing a rapist as "defenseless." I suppose there's other adjectives I'd be more inclined to use!

Just MHO.

Thanks for the response. :hi:

[Vektor]

45. I am equally disgusted if the victim is a child OR an adult.

I am with you, OP, on being ok with the DP if there's a child involved, but absolutely no less likely to support the proposal if the victim is not underage. IMHO, sexual assault is a sickening, unfathomable crime which is equally horrific if the victim is eight, eighty, or anywhere else on the age spectrum.

If a person who is really young or really old is sexually assaulted, the public is (rightly) outraged, but if the victim is of childbearing age, there are many who will be inclined to ask "what did the victim do/say/wear/look like, etc. to provoke it? Were they out drinking? Were they out late at night? For some, the crime somehow becomes "less of a crime" if the victim is not a child, or an elderly person, and especially if they are a young adult female.

A sexual predator is a sick, sick person regardless of the age of their victim. The year the victim was born does not determine how deranged the criminal is, the crime does. I would have no qualms about executing a rapist, regardless of the age of the victim, OR whether or not the victim dies.

I don't believe a rapist can be rehabilitated, in fact, re-offender rates are sky high. Even if they were, they don't deserve the opportunity.

[varkam]

53. It seems that this is based on the mistaken perception of recidivism rates and stranger danger.

First and foremost, 90% of sexual abuse cases are perpetrated by someone known by and trusted by the child - usually a family member. Of those intrafamilial offenders, recidivism (repeat offending) is extremely low. In fact, recidivism overall is generally low for sex offenders. Over a five-year follow-up, the rate of a new sex offense among past offenders is somewhere between 11 and 15 percent (depending on which study you look at) which is less than half the recidivism for other classes of criminals. Therefore, arguments for either life imprisonment or DP on the basis of deterrence or incapacitation are complete crap - retribution is the only logically coherent argument. But on the subject of retribution, is this really who we are? Do we really just want to make people suffer like they've caused other people to suffer? Especially when casting an extremely wide net (e.g. anyone convicted of a sexual act towards a child - which can be any number of things) I think you'll find you're going to do an incredible amount of collateral damage in the name of your own lust for revenge.

I would tenatively agree with life imprisonment in some cases where the individual is reviewed by a non-biased panel of trained mental health professionals and incapacitated until he or she is found not to pose a threat.

[Warren DeMontague]

59. My problem with the Death Penalty is, sometimes they get the wrong guy.

I think that violent people should be separated from society; for sure, that goes especially for anyone who harms a kid. I have no problem with child molesters being locked up for good, no chance of parole.

One other thing I'd want to make sure is, these are real child molesters and not the 17 year old High School senior who had sex with his 16 year old girlfriend.

Also, to make room for all the violent and dangerous people we should be keeping off the streets, we should stop locking up people for non-violent drug offenses. Treat hard drug abuse as a health issue and not a law enforcement one, and legalize and tax marijuana so that our tax dollars aren't paying to keep pot smoking cancer grannies behind bars.

[NashVegas]

66. Our Adversarial Court System

Is not about finding the truth, it's about getting convictions.

[Warren DeMontague]

69. And as such, until we have a perfect system, I can't in good conscience support the DP

because as long as there's a chance we're putting people to death for shit they didn't do, it's wrong in my opinion.

I don't think life in prison is any kind of a treat; but at least, even with the, as you put it, adversarial court system, when someone is locked up and not dead there is a chance to rectify a wrongful conviction.

[BlueIris]

61. All I can post is that I don't think either life in prison or the death penalty would deter

pedophiles from committing their offenses.

[RubyDuby in GA]

68. This stems from a Georgia case: Christopher Barrios

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17739868/

And yes, these people deserve the death penalty like no others.
And quite frankly, I believe that any person who preys on society's children do deserve to be removed from this planet.

[NashVegas]

70. Those People Are Just Scum

There's no other word for it.

[rucky]

72. If it is a condition that can't be rehabilitated from...

then is it a psychological disorder? genetic? the person should be locked up in a mental ward, and researchers should step up efforts to cure it, or at least explain it.