That's the title of an editorial in the Kansas City Sun regarding Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt's call for the death penalty for non-homicidal child rape. LINK
Gov. Matt Blunt’s outrageous call for the death penalty for violent sexual predators shows extremism and desperation as he enters a tough 2008 election against Attorney General Jay Nixon.
Blunt wants to kiss up to voters by putting sexual predators in his sights. Perverts make an easy target. They define “scum of the earth,” especially in the minds of parents and victims. Perverts are reviled universally. But execute them?
Maybe all rapists should be killed, too. But why limit death to violent sex crimes? Why not all violent crimes? Anyone who attempts to murder someone else – death? Armed robbery, battery, road rage? Death, death and more death?
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reports one in four girls and one in six boys are abused sexually; about one-third of abusers are under 18; and more than 90 percent of abusers, who often are parents, know victims well. If all such abusers would be executed, Blunt’s plan would bathe Missouri families in blood.
Missouri law requires a mandatory 30-year sentence for those guilty of raping or sodomizing someone 12 or younger. Deviants deserve such harsh treatment and perhaps upping the penalty from 30 to 50 years is justified. But adding 20 more years to the sentence would not grab pre-election headlines in the same way proposing executions has done for Blunt.
And:
Instead of pandering for votes, if Blunt wants to help children, then he should do something meaningful. To give children health insurance, he should restore the Medicaid funds that he cut.
The percentage of low-income Missouri parents who are uninsured soared from 19 percent in 2000 to a new and higher number under Blunt – 30 percent in 2003, based on a report by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington. The increase in just three years reflects exactly how much Blunt cares about Missouri’s children, which is not much at all.
Does anyone really buy the idea that the state-sanctioned murder of perverts will do anything to stop crimes against children?
Does anyone really buy the idea that killing perverts will show that Blunt has made the welfare of children a priority?
Does anyone believe the timing of Blunt’s cry of “Death to perverts!” is anything but political?
The Springfield News-Leader has a very brief mention of the proposal in, "'Change is working,' Blunt tells legislators." Blunt made the comments during his state-of-the state-speech.
Blunt set forth other priorities: the death penalty for child rapists; new protections from large property tax increases; a biodiesel mandate; and a weeklong "Show-Me Green" tax holiday that would suspend sales taxes on energy efficient appliances.
Earlier coverage of the Missouri proposal is here. Later this spring, the Supreme Court will examine the issue of non-homicidal child rape in Kennedy v. Louisiana. Coverage is in the Jessica's Law index.
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