[Dialogue] U.S. States Widen Scope for Executions

[Harry Wainwright]

Published on August 29, 2006 by the Inter Press Service
<http://www.ipsnews.net> 

U.S. States Widen Scope for Executions 

by Haider Rizvi

 

NEW YORK - Politicians in primarily southern U.S. states have passed laws
that expand the use of the death penalty to include repeat child sex
offenders -- a move mental health professionals say is ineffective in
stopping molestation and abolitionists believe ultimately will be ruled
unconstitutional. Despite the warnings, though, two states, South Carolina
and Oklahoma, this summer enacted laws that allow repeat child sex offenders
to be put to death. They join Louisiana, Florida, and Montana, which already
have similar laws on their books. 

The governors of both Oklahoma and South Carolina argued that the sexual
abuse of children is as bad as murder because molestation causes permanent
damage to the life of the child. 

"(It) is about sending a very clear message that there are some lines that
you do not cross," said South Carolina governor Mark Sanford in a statement,
"and that if those lines are crossed the penalties will be severe." 

Oklahoma State Senator Jay Paul Gumm echoed the sentiment. "We allow the
death penalty for someone who has killed a body," Gumm, who authored the
Oklahoma bill, said in a statement. "Why would we allow someone to escape
who has killed a soul?" 

But critics dismiss such reasoning as irrational and unconstitutional, even
though they acknowledge that child rape is a serious crime. 

"Obviously, it's a very, very serious crime," said John Holdridge, director
of the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) capital punishment project,
in an interview with IPS. "But this law is totally disproportionate to the
crime, which does not involve a case of an eye for an eye." 

Holdridge's remarks seem to parallel the U.S. Supreme Court's 1977 opinion
on a case involving the rape of an adult woman in Georgia. The ruling
suggests that the death penalty may only be applied in cases of murder, not
rape. 

Deciding the case, the Court observed that execution for rape was
"disproportionate to the crime." 

"Rape is without doubt deserving of serious punishment," the ruling said,
"but in terms of moral depravity and of the injury to the person and to the
public, it does not compare with murder, which does involve the unjustified
taking of human life." 

Moreover, citing the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Court
described the death penalty for rape as "a cruel and unusual punishment." 

Along with the majority of lawmakers in South Carolina and Oklahoma who
voted in favour of death penalty laws, Gumm reasoned that only an unusual
punishment, such as execution, could deter those who repeatedly use sexual
violence against minors. 

One death penalty opponent called it "a very stupid message," and Holdridge
agreed. "This law is terrible for the victim," he said. "It gives no
incentive to the offender not to kill the victim." 

Moreover, in most child molestation cases, the victims and offenders know
each other. Holdridge doubts family members would be willing to report the
cases of child rape. Family members would not like to see the offender
executed, they said. 

Since the 1977 Supreme Court ruling, no one convicted of child molestation
has been executed in the United States. One inmate in Louisiana, however,
currently sits on death row for raping a child. 

Patrick O. Kennedy was sentenced to die in 2003 for raping an eight-year-old
girl. His case is working through appeals courts in Louisiana. It is not
clear when or if it would come before the U.S. Supreme Court, but observers
say it is likely. 

Since the Supreme Court's previous decision against using the death penalty
in the rape case involved an adult victim, proponents of execution for child
rape are hoping the high court will not take that ruling into consideration.


Opponents, however, say despite the fact that the Supreme Court is now
dominated by conservative judges, the possibility that judges may decide the
Louisiana case in the light of its 1977 decision cannot be ruled out. 

"When it finally reaches the Supreme Court," Richard Dieter of the Death
Penalty Information Centre (DPI), and a long-time observer of capital
punishment cases, told IPS, "It's most likely to be struck down." 

Other critics of the death penalty laws say they fear that children may be
forced by malevolent adults to make false statements against the innocent. 

"There was a flurry of trials during the 1980s and 1990s of adults charged
with sexual crimes against children in daycare centres," according to
Amnesty International, the London-based rights group. "(But) time has shown
that all, or almost all, of the alleged perpetrators were innocent." 

Indeed, mental health professionals who work with repeat sex offenders say
they do not believe the death penalty will deter a child molester. 

"It's a very simplistic way to deal with the issue of child molestation,"
said Dr. Gerald Landsberg, professor of social work at the New York
University, in an interview with IPS. 

Dr. Landsberg, who has authored several publications in the area of forensic
mental health and violence, said various methods of treatment are available
for child molesters, though there is a "very mixed" opinion about which are
most effective. Sometimes, for instance, child molesters are treated with
chemical castration. 

Aashti Bhartia contributed to this report. 

Copyright C 2006 IPS-Inter Press Service

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