ARE YOU KIDDING ME! SERIOUSLY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!
By Kat • Jun 25th, 2008 • Category: Opinions and Editorials
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that child rapists cannot be executed, concluding capital punishment is reserved for murderers.
Kennedy was convicted of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter in her bed. The attack caused internal injuries and bleeding to the child, requiring extensive surgery, as well as severe emotional trauma, Louisiana prosecutors said.
Patrick Kennedy, 43, was on Louisiana’s death row after being convicted of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter.
The ruling stemmed from the case of Patrick Kennedy, who appealed the 2003 death sentence he received in Louisiana after being convicted of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion that “evolving standards of decency” in the United States forbid capital punishment for any crime other than murder.
“We conclude that, in determining whether the death penalty is excessive, there is a distinction between intentional first-degree murder on the one hand and nonhomicide crimes against individual persons, even including child rape, on the other,” wrote Anthony Kennedy, who is of no relation to the convicted rapist.
Execution of Patrick Kennedy, the justice also wrote, would be unconstitutional on the grounds of the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
Patrick Kennedy, 43, would have been the first convicted rapist since 1964 to be executed in a case in which the victim was not killed.
Kennedy was convicted of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter in her bed. The attack caused internal injuries and bleeding to the child, requiring extensive surgery, as well as severe emotional trauma, Louisiana prosecutors said.
Anthony Kennedy — supported by Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer — wrote that the prohibition against cruel punishment derives its meaning from the “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.”
“The rule of evolving standards of decency … means that resort to the [death] penalty must be reserved for the worst of crimes and limited in its instances of application,” the opinion read.
After a review of the “history of the death penalty for this and other nonhomicide crimes, current state statutes and new enactments, and the number of executions since 1964, we conclude there is a national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape,” Anthony Kennedy wrote.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the dissent, saying, “The harm that is caused to the victims and to society at large by the worst child rapist is grave.” He was supported by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
In his dissent, Alito wrote that the majority ruled against the death penalty “no matter how young the child, no matter how many times the child is raped, no matter how many children the perpetrator rapes, no matter how sadistic the crime, no matter how much physical or psychological trauma is inflicted and no matter how heinous the perpetrator’s criminal record may be.”
Lawyers for the defendant filed appeals repeatedly raising the issue of skin color, suggesting it may have been a factor in the broader political and legal debate over expanding capital crimes to include rape. Patrick Kennedy and the victim are both African-American.
Billy Sothern of the Capital Appeals Project cited Department of Justice statistics that all 14 rapists executed by Louisiana in the past 75 years or so were African-American. Nationwide from 1930 to 1964, nearly 90 percent of executed rapists were black, he said.
But the issue of race did not come up in oral arguments.
The high court has in recent years banned execution for the mentally retarded, underage killers and those deemed to have had an inadequate defense at trial.
U.S. Supreme Court rulings in 1976 and 1977 barred capital punishment for rape — and by implication any other crime except murder. But Louisiana later passed a law allowing execution for the sexual violation of a child under 12. State lawmakers argued that the earlier high court cases pertained only to “adult women.”
Florida, Montana, Oklahoma and South Carolina have death-penalty laws for rape, but have not applied them in decades. Texas enacted a version a year ago, but no defendant has been designated death-eligible for child rape in any state but Louisiana.
No one has been executed for rape in the United States since 1964. Other state and federal crimes theoretically eligible for execution include treason, aggravated kidnapping, drug trafficking, aircraft hijacking and espionage. None of these crimes have been prosecuted as a capital offense in decades, if ever.
Supporters of Louisiana’s law say that besides murder, no crime is more deserving of the death penalty than child rape, and the punishment would be used only in the most heinous of circumstances.
Death penalty opponents contend, among other things, that it could give attackers a reason to murder their victims. In Wednesday’s ruling, Anthony Kennedy agreed, writing, “A state that punishes child rape by death may remove a strong incentive for the rapist not to kill the victim.”
Patrick Kennedy was recently joined on Louisiana’s death row by another convicted child rapist, Richard Davis. Davis’ legal appeals have barely begun, but his case, along with Kennedy’s, will be sent back for resentencing in light of the ruling.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I AM FURIOUS AT OUR SO CALLED JUSTICE SYSTEM. WHERE’S THE JUSTICE FOR THE CHILD WILL NEVER BE THE SAME! EVEN IF 100 YEARS OLD!
June 25th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
You know when the corporatist fascists fail to mete out equitable justice some times people take the common law into their own hands
during fits of temporary insanity and perhaps a misapplication of
"ye shall not suffer a witch to live" or some rabbinical interpretation of ye old testament laws calling for death for certain crimes.
The Jewish Talmudic writings call for, among other dastardly provisions, under certain circumstances raping a young boy does not obligate the rapist to pay damages to the parents, yeah I was shocked to read that too the first time, after some of what is said about mother Mary, however, it is not so surprising.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
(Kennedy was convicted of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter in her bed. The attack caused internal injuries and bleeding to the child, requiring extensive surgery, as well as severe emotional trauma, Louisiana prosecutors said.) This is why people like myself should never own a gun. You’re right RVC! They would ALL be 6 foot under if it were up to me. This has me so upset that I am actually for the first time in my life going to write, call and harass higher level government! I might get my 10 minutes of fame on CNN! as someone that’s ‘gone postal’. I can not even convey the rage I feel over this outragious decision. Then don’t even get me started on animal abuse! There’s another bunch that I would drop them where they stood.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Democrat Barack Obama said Wednesday he disagrees with the Supreme Court’s decision outlawing executions of people who rape children, a crime he said states have the right to consider for capital punishment.
"I have said repeatedly that I think that the death penalty should be applied in very narrow circumstances for the most egregious of crimes," Obama said at a news conference. "I think that the rape of a small child, 6 or 8 years old, is a heinous crime and if a state makes a decision that under narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances the death penalty is at least potentially applicable, that that does not violate our Constitution."
The court’s 5-4 decision Wednesday struck down a Louisiana law that allows capital punishment for people convicted of raping children under 12, saying it violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. (KAT NOTE: Excuse me but doesn’t the child suffer CRUEL and unusual punishment?)
The ruling spares the only people in the U.S. under sentence of death for that crime — two Louisiana men convicted of raping girls 5 and 8. It also invalidates laws on the books in five other states that allowed executions for child rape that does not result in the death of the victim.—(KAT NOTE…In my humble opinion, DEATH OF THE CHILD does NOT have to mean PHYSICAL DEATH!). This poor child, alone with millions of others, was torn apart inside and required extensive surgery. Hello? Is anyone on this planet listening or is everyone just turning a deaf ear and saying, "Oh that would never happen to MY child", Ya wanna bet? or
"I’ve never known anyone that that has happened to", again, I ask…..Ya wanna bet? Don’t stick your head in the sand. Stand up and be a voice for those that can’t talk. I was well into my 30’s before I finally told my ’secret’. I don’t think it’s anything to be ashamed of because I DID NOT do anything to cause it. I am STILL at 47 working towards going from victum to survivor. Oh yes, to the outside world most of us are happy, joking all the time, etc., but then when alone in the wee hours of the morning…….the tears of a clown appear.
Just a question: Are there any RAPE COUNSELOR’S in Morehead? Is there a place for children, and women for that matter, to turn to or do they just get a 5 minute talk with a social worker in the ER and some brochures?
June 26th, 2008 at 10:36 am
I don’t want to sound negative or anything but…
Don’t let "Animal Rights Activism" get in your way of "Electrocuting the rapist".
The two just don’t mix too well.
Public hangings might work better as a deterrent…
If they were just left locked in the stock unattended for a few minutes while the guard
went for lunch then people might remember what a "suspension bridge" really is.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Since he might not be on death row now but in the genneral population, the situation might be resolved like Jeffery Daumer’s was. I have heard that the prison survival rate is pretty low for those sentenced for child rape, the "scared straight" efforts to scare youngsters into avoiding crime has suggested that prison rape is a sentence enhancement for a lot of inmates, implication being "it happens" and the warden/staff either dont have control over it or it is allowed. That seems "cruel and unusual punishment" to me for a lot of crimes like cheating on your taxes, but we are already screwed by the government on that one so?
June 26th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Didn’t mean to ‘go off the deep end’ on that topic but at least now I can cancel my nut appointment this week! see, still laughing, still standing. I’m kinda confused nighthawk over the statement of not letting my protecting animals rights against abuse as I would a child. For those of us that never had a child and have always had 4 legged children that love us unconditionally….I personally see no difference. Both are helpless and need protecting. Once again, just my humble opinion.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
In the world of politics the two issues just don’t mix too well.
I’m not suggesting that you don’t support both issues…
Just don’t mix the issues and you will find more political help with both issues.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I understand what you are saying nighthawk. If I want to pursuit this "child rape is not cruel and unusual punishment" gig, then I’d be better off to not combine the two into one discussion. Is that correct? Just want to make sure I am hearing you correctly. If so, I see what you mean. Two causes close to my heart but needing separate avenues to achieve the desired end result. This would be more productive and I appreciate the ‘head’s up’ on it.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
This morning next to the church across from Pretty Valley Convenient store, I saw a black cat laying against the curb. I drove over to look at it and it’s entire back leg was skinned off and it wouldn’t move. I had a box in the back seat and go it to a vet. There is NO WAY I was going to leave that poor cat laying beside the road injured. Would I do the same for a child? IN A HEART BEAT! OF COURSE! Just because I personally identify more with pets than I do children does not mean that I care any less. Some people, ie., me., were just not given that ‘mommy gene’ while going down the assembly line. God saw fit that a few of us was given a different kind of ‘mothering gene’ for the fur babies he created. I’m glad to be a fur baby mama. It took the docs from here to Chicago to FINALLY after 20 years do a hysterectomy on me. Something I needed literally since I was 9. (Kinda goes back to the abuse thing). Anyway, all the doc’s kept trying to get me to have a child and ‘maybe’ that would ’straighten everything out’, well MAYBE you should just yank it out because if I want to hear the pitty patter of little feet., I’ll put shoes on my cat! God Bless those that can handle the very hard job of raising children. I just couldn’t do it.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I’ve taken injured cats and dogs to the vet even if they don’t belong to me. I just can’t stand by and let them hurt. Bless you!
June 27th, 2008 at 1:02 am
Right back at ya Clearfield Cat! Like you, I can’t pass up an animal in need of help and go on my merry way. Because of physical limitations, it takes me a bit to get into and out of my car but I have stopped on many a road, Old Flemingsburg Road near the entrance to Heritage Place was the last place, and picked up a turtle and help it to the other side of the road and I’ll continue to do that. Silly little things pick the strangest times to cross. My cat Mookie just turned 21 on June 8th and he’s completely deaf now, cataracts in both eyes, and gay. He drinks water like there’s no tomorrow and eat’s like a horse and continues to lose weight. I know he has renal failure, which is what killed his ‘brother’, MacKenzie. Already have the casket in the truck of my car and know that very soon, I will have to put my ’son’ to sleep. He was the first thing I grabbed for when I was told about my mother’s death. They are truly precious little beings.
June 27th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Oh Kat, poor Mookie. I feel the same way about my cats. My ‘baby’ Dusty was 12 when he died of diabetes; his bro has it too but not as bad. When Mookie’s time arrives I hope he’s happy and at peace.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Thank you Clearfield Cat. That means a lot. Mookie’s time is fast approaching. He will be put to rest beside his ‘brother’. They loved each other so much. Need to look for someone soon to dig Mookie’s grave. Bless his heart, he had a mild seizure night before last.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
sorry RVC, I included you in the shooting range thing. I thought you had commented. Fibro Fog.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
OH, LOL, silly me. You did comment. Thanks for the heads up on the 1274 spot.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 am
US contradicts itself over its own ID theft advice—Ya don’t say?
WASHINGTON - When it comes to the risks of identity theft, the U.S. government isn’t taking its own advice.
The nation’s Medicare agency and the Pentagon compel at least 52 million Americans to carry their Social Security numbers in their wallets, contrary to warnings by the Federal Trade Commission that people should avoid doing so.
At least 44 million Medicare insurance cards include the beneficiary’s full Social Security number.
Social Security numbers also appear on 8 million Defense Department identity cards used by active duty and reserve forces and their dependents, and on identification cards issued to military retirees. The Pentagon plans to remove the numbers but won’t complete the effort until 2014.
And the Internal Revenue Service still tells taxpayers to write their Social Security number on checks used to make payments, a potential problem for those using the mail rather than filing electronically.
All this contradicts advice from the Federal Trade Commission, the lead federal agency for deterring identity theft.
"Protect your Social Security number. Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet or write your Social Security number on a check," the FTC warned in a pamphlet sent months ago to every mailing address in the United States. The Social Security Administration offers similar advice.
Carrying a Medicare card with the full Social Security number is more of a problem than the Social Security card. People usually need the insurance card to visit a medical provider but can memorize their number and always leave their Social Security card at home.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid said it would be too expensive for the agency, and for medical providers linked to Medicare, to change their systems with new numbers. Medicare officials also said they know of no cases in which identity theft was traced directly to a lost or stolen Medicare card.
Charlene Frizzera, chief operating officer of the nation’s Medicare agency, said it would cost half a billion dollars to make the change for the government alone. Medicare’s budget is $466.1 billion for the current financial year.
"Our advice is, don’t carry it with you unless you know you’re going to need it," Frizzera said of the government insurance card. But that advice contradicts the message on the back of the card: "Carry your card with you when you are away from home."
The president’s Identity Theft Task Force recommended last year that U.S. agencies reduce the unnecessary use of Social Security numbers, which it called "the most valuable commodity for an identity thief."
Arnold Werner, 84, a retired chemical engineer from Scott Depot, W.Va., was so upset over his Medicare card that he blacked out the two middle numbers of his Social Security number. His physician’s office said he needed to write the number back so it could copy it for billing purposes.
Werner gave up his attempt to change the system. By the time he needed the card for a hospital visit, he had obtained a new card with his full Social Security number printed on it.
"The government doesn’t know what it’s doing," he said. "I don’t think they do anything right these days."
Military forces, their dependents and retirees must carry their ID cards for a range of services and benefits. Army officials at Fort Bragg, N.C., mistakenly issued to an identity thief a military ID card in July 2001 in the name of retired Army Capt. John Harrison with Harrison’s Social Security number.
The thief, Jerry Wayne Phillips, was later convicted and sentenced to 41 months in prison after running up more than $260,000 in charges, including two trucks and a $25,000 Harley Davidson motorcycle. Harrison has testified to Congress about the need for tougher identity theft laws.
Combined with other personal information — such as a victim’s full name, birth date and home address — a Social Security number can be used to open fraudulent credit accounts using a victim’s identity. With just a Social Security number, a clever thief can fraudulently obtain a victim’s credit report for as little as $50, an important step toward ultimately impersonating a victim.
"The underground is using different pieces of information to put together a picture of you, and a key piece of the puzzle is your Social Security number," said Dan Clements, president of CardCops, which sells services that monitor consumer accounts for identity theft.
Medicare has no plans to change or revise its insurance cards.
The Pentagon will begin eliminating the Social Security number in stages starting at the end of this year.
The IRS said in a statement it would not return a check that was missing the Social Security number, but it has no plans to change its instructions.
"At the surface level, they’re working at cross-purposes. There’s a reason for that," said Joel Winston, the Federal Trade Commission’s director of the division of privacy and identity protection. "They’ve historically used this as an identifier because it works very well. But there’s a widespread recognition that it’s not a good idea anymore."
The Defense Department said it doesn’t have the money, people, equipment and work stations to replace the cards all at once.
By 2014, the number will not be printed on any of the Defense Department cards except those for retirees who fail to request new IDs. There is no expiration for retiree ID cards — used for access to base facilities and services such as the library, gym, bowling alley and golf course.
The Veterans Affairs Department, state governments, private companies and educational institutions already have acted to eliminate visible Social Security numbers:
_Private insurers covering roughly 200 million people issued new cards in recent years that replaced Social Security numbers with different identifiers. "I don’t know of private insurers who use a Social Security number on the card," said Susan Pisano, spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans. "Industry practice is, where Social Security numbers are used at all, they are used internally." Byron Hollis, national anti-fraud director for the BlueCross BlueShield Association, said the 39 independent companies in the trade group spent about four years replacing insurance cards for more than 90 million customers by the start of 2006.
_The VA spent roughly $6 million to replace about 4 million benefit cards to remove the Social Security number and birth date and placed all sensitive information on a bar code and magnetic strip. The only visible information on the new VA health cards is a color photo and identification of a special status, such as a Purple Heart recipient or former prisoner of war.
_Most universities have eliminated use of Social Security numbers.
_Forty-seven states have enacted laws to prevent identity theft, although their scope varies widely. In many instances, the laws ban use of the number for driver’s licenses and other official state documents, student ID cards and cards issued by private health insurers. "States have really forged out ahead," said Richard Hamp, an assistant attorney general in Utah. "I’m disappointed that the federal government isn’t more on top of it."
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Computer memory capacity has grown exponentially
so we can go back to older methods of describing who we are:
John Quincy Smith of Morehead, formerly of West Liberty, and
Pikeville, born near Wise, Virginia, March 1, 1962, age 46
now dwelling at 123 State Route 32, Morehead.
The odds of two people with the same history become slimmer
with more data, you cannot confuse the few with similar monikers
or appellations and ages.
The socialist unsecurity number links to this information anyway, it just
provides easier access to it to folks that have no business with such easy
access to it.
IF a socialist insecurity number is "required"(supposedly it is volutary),
it should only be for social security purposes,
not to establish identity or for credit purposes,
or for getting business services unrelated to socialist insecurity purposes,
LIKE CAR INSURANCE et cetera.
Ask around and you can find someone that still has one from back in the 1950s
or earlier that says right on the card "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION"
When confronted the SS (NAZIs?) claim this only refers to the card itself
and NOT THE NUMBER, which can be used for identification, just not the card.
That was quite a trick to ease older folks concerns that it was going to be a ID number.
IT is not the number of "your" name, but the number of the financial entity on the card
or stakeholder to the account. The NAME is in all capitol letters, not a English or
Christian name but a name of commerce. When someone asks for my
name I am likely to say I don’t have a name.
This puzzels some folks that haven’t read the bible.
If someone correctly asks who I am
Then I can say " I am … "
People used to use the expression "and you are?" followed by "I am…of such and such town or county, and state or country.
Socialist insecurity numbers have altered our society and sence of community in many undesirable ways.
Where are all the historical accounts of preachers and Christians from the 1930s lamenting over it being "the number of your name" or the mark of the beast?
Such writings and debates must have occurred?
I do not think it is the mark of John the Revelator’s book but it haint good.
(most if not all of that book looks like it refers to 70AD and Neron Ceaser)
IF the socialist insecurity number was yours you could change it when ever you
liked right? Just like other things in your life you are free to change, my social
security number is John 3, 16 amoung others.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:58 am
New Zealand man sells his soul to ‘Hell’ Story Highlights
New Zealand man sold his soul to food chain Hell Pizza for $3,800
Offer came after online auction site stopped bids because of complaints of bad taste
Auction attracted over 32,000 hits and over 100 bids before it was taken down
Pizza chain will collect "deed of ownership" to hang on wall of headquarters
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand man has sold his soul to hell — Hell Pizza, that is.
The New Zealand pizza chain said Thursday it had struck a deal with Walter Scott, 24, to buy a deed to his soul, shortly after an online auction site that initially agreed to the sale withdrew it from the Internet because of complaints it was in bad taste.
Scott offered his soul on the TradeMe site on Wednesday, saying he had not found it to be much use.
"I can’t see it, touch it or feel it, but I can sell it, so I’m going to palm it off to the highest bidder," Scott, 24, said on the sale site.
The auction attracted more than 32,000 hits and over 100 bids before it was taken down.
TradeMe business manager Michael O’Donnell said the company had received an "overwhelming number of complaints from the TradeMe community."
"A lot of people felt it was offensive even though we thought it was there for good fun," he told The Associated Press. "So the compliance team pulled it."
He said the auction had also attracted many bogus bids — while the last bid on the site was listed as $3,799, the last genuine bid was $456.
Rachael Allison, head of marketing for Hell Pizza, which has outlets across New Zealand and trades on a naughty image, said the company contacted Scott shortly after the auction was removed and offered him $3,800.
"The soul belongs to Hell, there is simply no better place for it," Allison told The Associated Press. "He was pretty delighted."
O’Donnell had said on Wednesday that Scott’s auction complied with TradeMe’s rules because a physical object — the deed of ownership — would change hands.
In 2001, 20-year-old U.S. university student Adam Burtle tried to sell his soul on eBay, but the auction was pulled after the company ruling that something tangible needed to be exchanged for a viable sale.
Allison said she would fly to Scott’s home town of Wanganui on North Island Friday "to pick up the soul — or at least the deed of ownership."
The deed would be hung on a wall at the company’s headquarters in the northern city of Auckland and an image of it posted on the company’s Web site.
"We’d love to get his soul in the virtual world — to keep it immortal," she said.