Proportional

I realize this may be in violation of the unwritten “keep it light” modus operandi I usually operate under but I want to sound off on it a little just the same.

“The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child.” Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing the majority opinion that overturned a law permitting the execution of child rapists.

I read this in a mid-July edition of Newsweek magazine and have to admit I have been really bothered by it. So much so, I hung on to the article and went to the old tried and true method of analyzing something… checking out a definition in a hard copy American Heritage dictionary. I think Kennedy is focusing on the second definition here, “A relationship between things or parts of things with respect to comparative magnitude, quantity or degree.” So it is kind of like a sophisticated way of saying, “An eye for an eye.”

My question for Justice Kennedy is how can anything be considered proportional to the rape of a child? I maintain many lives are ruined here, mainly the child’s and also the lives of the parents. I will (and hope to) never be able to fully understand the gravity of this on the victim and the victim’s family but I am nevertheless convinced a rapist steals the lives of several victims.

My argument is that people who have not been victimized by this crime cannot accurately judge “proportion”. Instead, there should be a gathering of previous victim’s parents who would review each case where there has been a conviction. Maybe something like an automatic appeals jury that convenes not on behalf of the perpetrator but on behalf of the victim. This panel should have the same power of life and death decision making that the perpetrator had when so thoughtfully exercising their power to steal a child’s future. Of course there would be an associated expense for convening these panels but the total cost would be minor in comparison to the cost of incarcerating a child rapist for life.

I think we would see some interesting results don’t you? I mean, if I was deliberating over the future of someone who had raped my son or daughter the choice would be pretty clear. I would gladly pull the trigger myself and then, of course turn to the task of forgiveness (the perpretrator and me) along with trying to help my child through the healing process.

I did a little Google research on the aftermath of this and see cries for Kennedy’s impeachment along with much general concern over this ruling.

Want the facts? Here is what the rapist did to this little girl: [The 8 year old victim] was transported to the Children’s Hospital. An expert in pediatric forensic medicine testified that [the 8 year old victim's] injuries were the most severe he had seen from a sexual assault in his four years of practice. A laceration to the left wall of the vagina had separated her cervix from the back of her vagina, causing her rectum to protrude into the vaginal structure. Her entire perineum was torn from the posterior fourchette to the anus. The injuries required emergency surgery.

“Justice Kennedy decided that it was cruel and unusual to execute a child rapist on the grounds that “national consensus” is against such punishments.”

“Proportional?” Proportional to what? The word doesn’t remotely fit the crime, let alone the punishment. “National consensus?” Go figure…