Right Thinking From The Left Coast
"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Obama On Rapists
by Hal_10000

I put this up in the Heller thread, but thought I’d move it above the fold.

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,” Mr. 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.”

I didn’t talk about Kennedy vs. Louisiana yesterday because I still haven’t quite groked it.  I’m neutral on the death penalty.  I support it in principle but think the problems in our judicial system are too great to risk someone’s life on.  I also worry about the methodology, which appears exceptionally cruel.  My concerns are doubled in child rape cases. Maybe we’ve forgotten the child molestation hysteria of the 80’s and 90’s, but the scores of innocent people convicted on zero evidence haven’t.  I’m also sympathetic to the argument laid out by a cop who called Limbaugh’s show yesterday: if the death penalty is in play, child rapists may just kill the witness.  They’ve nothing to lose.

As I said, I’m not sure where I fall on the issue.  But, as a federalist, I think this should have remained a state issue.  I don’t think the issues are clear enough for the Supreme Court to be stepping in.  I’m not sure wherefrom the logic comes that the death penalty should only apply if the victim died.

Contra the libs (and the Obamacons), Obama’s statement does not indicate he supports executing child rapists.  It indicates he thinks it’s a decision that should be left to the states.  How weird is it to hear a Democrat arguing a federalist view of the law?

Posted by Hal_10000 on 06/26/08 at 10:15 AM in Politics, Law, & Economics  • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink • Discuss this in the forums
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