A few days before Christmas a divorced woman with joint custody of her daughter had visitation. She took her daughter shopping with her. We found out later that she was not the primary care giver. Any way, her daughter is 9 years old and autistic. While they were parked in the parking lot of the store the daughter was having a fit. Apparently something the mother was doing agitated the daughter and she wasn't happy. The mother decided to leave her in the car while she went in done some shopping. When the mother returned the daughter wasn't in the car. She started looking for her and then had the store employees start looking. An hour or two later she decided to call the police.
The police show up, take a statement and issue an Amber Alert. Now this being a small West TX town this Amber Alert brought out over 250 volunteers to look for this little girl. It goes out on every news channel with her picture. Everyone knows her name and knows she is Autistic. This all started about 1500. The search continues through the night. The Fire Departments and the Red Cross show up to help feed the volunteers. The local helicopters are out and everyone is looking for this little girl. This is very typical of a small town. When a child is in distress, people will do anything to help. I was proud of my community.
Around 0700 the next morning the police get a call from an elderly man saying that his grandson has the little girl and that he found her in an alley. When they run the address of the person who has the little girl they realize that it is 5 miles from where she was lost and also the address of a registered sex offender. The police descend on his trailer house, use the city master key to open the door and viola, there she is. 13 hours she spent in this trailer with this known sex offender. The city is outraged that this could happen. As of the writing of this it has not been released if the sex offender molested the child or not. The news reported that he was arrested and facing 5-20 years.
Last night CBS 7 ran a poll. The question was "Do you think that persons convicted of a sex crime with a child should get the Death Penalty?" 84% said yes. Needless to say this is a hot button topic. Please respond and let me know what you think.
I am against the Death Penalty. Death is an absolute. The end. If we as a society are to end someones life, our Justice System should be absolutely perfect and it is not. If you don't believe me, ask Ron Goldman's family. Don't get me wrong. I am NOT a bleeding heart liberal. I simply believe that the Death Penalty is wrong considering how many convicts on death row were proven innocent with DNA testing. I do not believe the criminal justice system decides who is guilty or innocent, it decides who can afford the better lawyer. Do a little research into Ada Oklahoma, the book is called The Dreams of Ada, and you will see what a crooked prosecutor and a crooked judge can do to ruin someones life. Duke University is another example. DNA proved that those boys didn't do it and they still haven't dropped the charges.
You might be wondering what we should do if we abolish the Death Penalty. It is simple. Prison. Not prison like we have today, but prison like you see in the movies in other countries. Hard hitting prisons that do not coddle prisoners. It should be a 2 or 3 tier system. 1 tier for violent offenders and another tier for those who may be rehabilitated. Each prison would be self sufficient. It would produce a product and sell it. If it made good money the prisoners would eat good. If not, bread and water. The prison for those who can be rehabilitated would work for the City, Parish, County or whomever and they would learn a trade. Their pay would be their room and board. Take away everything. No TV, hot water, air conditioning, nothing. It should be a deterrent. No separation. The whole prison in General Population. If convicted of a violent crime, you go to the big house. If it is a non-violent crime you go to the little house. Say about 3 stays in the little house, you get the big house. I think it would work.
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It sounds as if you are basing you decisions on the fact that the system is not effective. The system has gotten alot better because of dna and other advances in CSI. There is absolutely no way that the justice system can be 100%. You can't base your decision on this because you have to accept the system for what it is. Your pipe dream about a self-sufficient prison is just that , a pipe dream. You have to think of the welfare of our children. If you have a sex-offender that has become a repeat offender after rehabilitation and jail time, you have to exterminate him. 60 minutes did a case study on rehab for sex offenders and have shown that over 90% of all sex offenders will recommit the crime after some sort of rehab. They are more passionate about being with children than normal people are with the other sex. They are obsessed with these perverted thoughts. It is a disease. And some would say that it is an uncurable disease. So unless you want sex offenders lurking in your neighborhood, I would suggest that you think this item through more clearly. Rehabilitation doesn't work, The thought of going to prison doesn't work. So, what are you left with.......DEATH
(There is absolutely no way that the justice system can be 100%) With this being said we should abolish the Death Penalty. You can not put someone to death on a maybe so.
(Rehabilitation doesn't work, The thought of going to prison doesn't work. So, what are you left with.......DEATH) Confinement will work. Lock them up and they are no longer a threat. It is a violent crime so they would get the big house. Problem solved. I agree that rehabilitation doesn't work most of the time. Lock them up. Keep them locked up. No parole. That will work.
Here is a sceneraio, you are wlaking home after having a few beers in the local bar. Mother nature start to call and you have to wiz really bad. You walk into an alley and do your business. Out of a door behind you out walks a family. They startle you and you turn around with your willy hanging out. They file a complaint and you are arrested for indecent exposure, urinating in public and indecent exposure to a minor child. Guess what, you are now a sex offender. Do you deserve to die? Do you deserve to have to register yourself as a sex offender? If you hire a crappy lawyer the prosecution is going to nail you. Like i said, our criminal justice system doesn't determine justice, it determines how good your lawyer was. If you give the government absolute power, then it will corrupt absolutely. You need to think this out more clearly.
Ray, your example was weak. There is no court in the world that would give you the death penalty for this situation. The death penalty would be an option not a certainty. I agree that there would be situations in which this type of extreme justice would not be appropriate. If you will read my post, I only believe it would be necessary if rehabilitation and jail time did not work. And this happens more times than not. As far as giving the govt. absolute power....Wake up, buddy. They already have the death penalty.
Ricky Said I only believe it would be necessary if rehabilitation and jail time did not work. And this happens more times than not.
Well smarty pants, if rehabilitation doesn't work this this person will have molested a child more than once. How many chances do you give him. Simplify it. If you are convicted of a sex crime against a minor you go to jail for ever. This is the problem. No one wants to lock a person up forever on just 1 time of committing the offense. That means someone else's child must be abused in order for this person to be a habitual offender. I say no. Lock him down.
This book may change a lot of people's mind. Here is something I wrote about it- Who And Where Is Dennis Fritz, You say after reading John Grisham's Wonderful Book "The Innocent man", Grisham's First non-fiction book. The Other Innocent Man hardly mentioned in "The Innocent Man" has his own compelling and fascinating story to tell in "Journey Toward Justice". John Grisham endorsed Dennis Fritz's Book on the Front Cover. Dennis Fritz wrote his Book Published by Seven Locks Press, to bring awareness about False Convictions, and The Death Penalty. "Journey Toward Justice" is a testimony to the Triumph of the Human Spirit and is a Stunning and Shocking Memoir. Dennis Fritz was wrongfully convicted of murder after a swift trail. The only thing that saved him from the Death Penalty was a lone vote from a juror. "The Innocent Man" by John Grisham is all about Ronnie Williamson, Dennis Fritz's was his co-defendant. Ronnie Williamson was sentenced to the Death Penalty. Both were exonerated after spending 12 years in prison. Both Freed by a simple DNA test, The real killer was one of the Prosecution's Key Witness. John Grisham's "The Innocent Man" tells half the story. Dennis Fritz's Story needs to be heard. Read about how he wrote hundreds of letters and appellate briefs in his own defense and immersed himself in an intense study of law. He was a school teacher and a ordinary man from Ada Oklahoma, whose wife was brutally murdered in 1975. On May 8, 1987 while raising his young daughter alone, he was put under arrest and on his way to jail on charges of rape and murder. Since then, it has been a long hard road filled with twist and turns. Dennis Fritz is now on his "Journey Toward Justice". He never blamed the Lord and soley relied on his faith in God to make it through. He waited for God's time and never gave up.
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