In a 5 to 4 ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled yesterday that the death penalty is unconstitutional as punishment for the rape of a child. As heinous and devastating as such a crime is, and even though the individuals who commit such acts are sub-human in my eyes, the justices made the right decision here.
I am one of the few Americans who is against the death penalty all together. If killing someone doesn't live up to the Constitution's protection against "cruel and unusual punishment," then I don't know what does. Murderers and rapists (especially those who rape an innocent child) are let off the hook way too easily if you kill them. I say let them sit in a cinder block jail cell in the middle of the desert with no visitation, no phone calls, no cell block socialization, and with no possibility for parole. Exercise and showers can be taken individually with guard supervision. That's how you punish this scum. Let them sit and rot while they think about what they did.
Moreover, the possibility that the state might execute the wrong person is another strong case against the death penalty. Cast in point: In 2002 several inmates on Illinois' death row were found innocent years or decades after-the-fact when advanced DNA testing cleared them of the crimes for which they had been sentenced to die. As a result, then-Governor George Ryan granted blanket commutation to all 167 death row inmates just days before leaving office.
Although the death penalty wasn't on the radar in Illinois' 1998 race for governor, that single act made me extremely proud of the vote I cast for Mr. Ryan - a Republican - on that year's ballot. (The Democratic candidate, Glenn Poschard, was actually much more conservative on most social issues, thus my Republican vote.)
The current court would never overturn the death penalty at the national level. There are too many Fascist-Conservatives sitting on that bench, unfortunately. But in this particular case, the Court made the right decision.
