Obama on Child Rape

Gulf News: Obama disagrees with court on child rape case

"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 Supreme Court just made the ruling on child rape:

NYT: Supreme Court Rejects Death Penalty for Child Rape

The 5-to-4 decision overturned death penalty laws in Louisiana and five other states. The only two men in the country who have been sentenced to death for the crime of child rape, both in Louisiana, will receive new sentences of life without parole.

Those who voted with Justice Kennedy in the majority were Justice Stevens and Justices David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen G. Breyer. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined the dissent, along with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

From a purely political point of view, and this is probably the most unimportant aspect of this decision, with his statement Obama comes across as more of a centrist. Look, he's agreeing with Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito, the gang of four. So perhaps he is yearning for praise from Limbaugh.

The crime is obviously as heinous as it gets. The victim faces a lifetime of coping with tremendous trauma. Certainly we want anyone who has suffered in this way to find healing.

As a Buddhist, there is the part of me that agrees with Obama. However this is in conflict with the general sacred idea that life requires preservation. So I am personally conflicted about the ruling.

I know that if I had been victimized by rape as a child or if my daughter or wife were raped as a child, I would find it very very difficult to disagree with Alito, Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas. Under these circumstances in our personal lives and families, we all would, if we admit it.

Obama's statement is not a recommendation for the death penalty, but opens the door to its possibility in specific cases.

How would we feel about a sociopath who was destroying the lives of many, a serial child rapist. We want him boiled in oil.

This is a tough one. I suspect the decision will be revisited.

How do we prevent such an outrage and crime from occurring in the first place, and could that ever happen. Are there countries or points in history where child rape does not occur.