Rape and Capital Punishment? Why two of my favorite topics!

The Supreme Court will soon make a decision on whether or not child rapists (that is....people who rape children, not children who rape) should be subject to the death penalty. Currently, rape of an adult woman does not warrant the death penalty per a prior Court decision (Coker vs. Georgia) because rape doesn't take another human life. However, several states, with Louisiana leading the charge, are challenging this. Their argument: children are the most vulnerable members of society and need a special level of protection, so people who rape children are a special class of criminal. Ergo, the death penalty is a completely justifiable punishment.

The case being brought to the Court centers around a Louisiana man who raped his 8 yr old stepdaughter, harming her so badly that she needed surgery. And this is why I sometimes can't argue with the death penalty. If you were the parent of this child, wouldn't you want to see this man dead? It's human to feel that way. The Jesus-loving thing to do, of course, is not wish death on someone, and wait for another sort of Judgement. But my human mind can't wrap itself around that all the time.

So, opponents of this policy argue that by making the death penalty possible for perpetrators, it may reduce reporting of crimes and even put victims are risk of death at the hands of their rapists: if the kid is dead, who is going to tell?

The ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund argue that capital punishment is tinged with racial bias. I see where they are going with this and it's part of why I still question capital punishment in this country. But, rape isn't about race. It's about power, abuse and control. I mean, the man who raped his stepdaughter is a man of color, but I could give two shits less about his race.

I suppose the one flaw I find in Louisian's argument is the sanctity of young life angle. It fits, strangely, in with the whole mindset of protecting young life and could in some indirect way fit nicely in the legal arsenal of vehement pro-lifers. I can see a brief now citing this case as basis for the value of a child's life and livelihood. I mean, all life is valuable, right? But there is something that alarms when we talk about how sacred children are as opposed to all living human beings. It gets us sliding down a slippery slope of protecting young lives....even embryos and fetuses.

It's a murky, slimey pond to wade in when you're dealing with capital punishment. There is a systemic bias in the system and there are probably countless people who have died unjustly because of errors and screw ups in the justice system. But I also know that rape is a crime that never leaves you and stays with you forever and there is something to be said about a person who does the unspeakable to a child. Criminals have the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, but often times their victims (usually women) don't have the same right. So tell me: who in the hell speaks for them?