Letters to the Editor
stackey-dackey
Published Letters: 287 Editor's Choice: 8
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@Silenced
[Read the article: Is Ralph Nader losing it?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]“in order to build a case that the death penalty is truly warranted, it becomes in the prosecutor's best interest to keep the child in a maximally traumatized state for the duration of the sentencing and appeals process.”
How is the prosecutor going to keep a child in the maximally traumatized state? What are they going to do, dress up like the rapist and jump out of the kid’s bedroom closet every night? Do you truly think the parents of the victim are going to allow their child to be traumatized constantly? I think you have a really negative idea about the criminal justice system in general and prosecutors in particular. Even if prosecutors are all evil bastards, they are bastards who are sensitive to the public, since their bosses are elected officials, so I don’t think they are going to want the bad publicity they would receive if it ever came out they were torturing child rape survivors.
“If the child has already healed from the trauma by the sentencing date, that's not going to help your case at all. If you're building a death penalty case, then healing is an outcome you want to delay for as long as legally necessary.”
Why would you assume that the healing is the outcome you want to delay? The perpetrator of the crime is not being tried on the future well-being of the child, but on what he did to the child during the rape. That’s the crime. Any defense attorney who tried to point to the child and say, well she or he is okay now, would not only piss off the jury but would most likely upset the judge as well. A child who appears “okay” after such a horrific event might even be more endearing to the jury (he or she is so brave, but we know they are suffering inside) and would excite their blood lust even more against the rapist. I know its important to you personally that no one sees you as damaged goods, but I can't help but think that anyone who survives such a trauma IS a different person than they would have been without the trauma. A lot of people beleive that child who is raped and/or molested has their innocence stolen; I can see why they think it should be a capitol offense.
However, I do beleive that the death penalty should be reserved for homicides, but not for the reasons you outlined above. Also, I’m sorry, but the criminal justice system is not just about victim’s rights, which is why our system is based on the innocent until proven guilty model. It’s also about the society as a whole, and I’m sorry, there are some crimes that are so heinous that the only way we can heal from the horror of them is to exact the ultimate punishment on the perpetrators. At least, that’s what I’ve always believed.
I agree with Obama's stance, just not about child rape.
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Just because Hillary considered herself the better canidate
[Read the article: A place called Unity]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Doesn't mean she thought Obama was a bad canidate.
What all of you forget is that Obama and Clinton worked together before the primary and will be working together after the primary, if he becomes president or if he stays a Senator. If they are both adults (which I beleive they are) they realize the primary was a battle, and probably adhere to the old adage that all is fair in love and war.
However, this primary wasn't even that dirty. Did Obama ever bring up any of the old Clinton scandals? Did Clinton ever say anything about Rezko or the internet chatter regarding Obama? Granted, they lofted fluffy white pillows at each other, but I'm sorry, this campaign was pretty tepid when it came to actual scandals. The media, however, with their reliance on over speaking "Obama blasted back, Clinton attacked" etc., just made mountains out of mole hills for ratings sake. And of course, there was the media sexism against Clinton which is a seperate issue from Obama. I think its asking a lot to expect Obama to come to Clinton's aid (and would she want him to? I think not.) I don't remember her coming to Obama's aid regarding the Wright scandal, nor did she ever make a concerted effort to help him fight back against the internet chatter. There is, always the possibility she was behind it (or Operation Chaos) , but oh well, that happens in campaigns.
Clinton definitely used her advantages (hardworking white people) and Obama used his (98% of the black vote) but I don't hold it against either of them. Some of you might find either of these instances of playing the "race" card disgusting, but it worked didn't it? The reliable black vote help catapult Obama and Clinton did well at the latter part of the race because she became the hardworking white people canidate. If she had only stressed that at the beginning maybe she would have won the whole thing. Who knows? And sure, the Obama supporters would have been as hopping mad as the Clinton supporters are right now.