Reconsider it?

In response to Jess, my fellow classmate, I must say I feel he is just another angry person reacting without rationale. The idea in question is whether or not rape as a crime can or should be punishable by death. As I wrote in my blog, we must not act irrationally or too quickly in regards to this severe punishment. Its future implications and results for ALL parties must be taken in to consideration and given great thought. The federal and state governments have the power to take someone’s life; it not a power to be taken lightly.

Jess seemed to greatly disagree with Justice Kennedy’s reasoning, that murder and rape cannot be compared in their severity and irrevocability. I feel my classmate speaks ignorantly on this subject. The fact that rape survivors do just that, survive, is in itself great reason why most rapists should not be sentenced to death. I do agree that the road to recovery for rape and molestation victims is a hard uphill battle. However, we must not forget the resilience of children. With the right treatments (for both the child AND the family) we can hope that they are well prepared to handle. Today therapists help children via comfortable inviting places for children to tell their stories, play, art, music, family, and group therapy. While it’s true, some may never heal completely we can hope that their therapists give them the tools to function and deal with it through out their life.

Aside from the actual incident that will ultimately scare the child, we must think of WHO the child rapist is. According to the Boston Area Rapist Crisis Center, 93% of juvenile sexual assault survivors know their attackers. Also, according to the University of Minnesota Duluth, an estimated 77% of reported sexual abusers are parents, 16% are other relatives, and 6% are non-related. In addition, 40% of youth survivors (under 6yrs old) were abused by juveniles under 18 years old. With statistics such as this, can we as a society be completely comfortable sentencing child rapists to death? A death sentence may only prolong the healing process for the survivor or even cause more trauma.

This is not to say that some child rapists do not deserve the death penalty –repeat and heinous offenders. The Supreme Court may reduce the strict criteria for capitol punishment in the future (which I do not believe it should do). However, strict guidelines MUST be put in place to ensure that ALL rapists are punished in the same matter for their much harsher crimes. With no clear cut line we open ourselves up for different interpretations that may have negative and biased affects (especially in conservative or southern states).