Jessica’s Flaw
Writing by treason on Tuesday, 24 of April , 2007 at 8:11 pm
In general, I am an advocate of leaving legal decisions, such as abortion and gay marriage, up to individual states. We currently have fifty of these and if an individual takes issue with one state’s laws, he can — if he chooses to do so — pick up and move to another. The downside might be the responsibility of staying informed on how one state’s law differs from another. (Funny, that was legal where I used to live, but gee, now I’m a felon.)
A tricky one is Jessica’s Law because so many states are adopting child protection legislation but modifying the rules so that each state’s law is somewhat different. One state defines a crime as a violation of a child under the age of 14. Another state might say it’s 13. Yet another, 12.
And there are entire websites dedicated to stopping all versions of Jessica’s Law, and the list of grievances is long and complex. First, these laws, say critics, are the product of repressed Republicans on a witch-hunt. If it were up to these nuts, everyone would be in prison! (Well, that’s just silly. Not everyone would fit.)
Another popular argument is that children are usually not abused by “Stranger Danger.” Research, they say, shows that 90% or more of children are sexually abused by someone they know and trust — a family friend or relative. So… incest is okay then? We’re not saying that, they insist, but if you start pulling abusive family members out of the home, there could be problems. (Gee whillikers! A bigger problem than having a pedophile in the house?)
Yes! A woman who loses the financial support of a convicted husband or “partner” could find herself and her children in poverty. How will she be expected to provide shelter and food for her kids? (Ah… so it’s better for everyone if she just continues to prostitute one or more of them? Yes, let Daddy bang little Ashley so the rest of us can eat – now there’s a plan!)
I’m sorry, but like I’ve said before, I live in a state in which the official sport is child abuse. Both men and women are beating the snot out of kids – three people were just arrested for torturing a toddler. Story after story of infants who have so many broken bones that they must feel like ragdolls when the authorities find them. This doesn’t even begin to include the cases of sexual abuse. My position is clear: Any woman who allows her child to be abused is complicit and should be arrested and convicted with the perpetrator. But the next question is always: But what happens to the child? Answer: The child gets away from its abusers.
But what happens, critics ask, when a vindictive woman accuses an innocent partner of abuse? (A woman accusing innocent men of rape? This happens? Oh, that’s right… there was that recent case at that school down south somewhere…) Well, it’s unfortunate but it happens. Soon new anti-crazy legislation will pass and people will be turning in their neighbors for “peculiar behavior.” (I’ve seen him talking to his shrubs, you know. He’s usually very quiet. Reserved even. Until, of course, he gets around those hydrangeas…) The courts will be so tied up with that, no one will care about persecuted dads.
But if someone is arrested and convicted of a sex crime how will they ever get a job? I don’t know. Perhaps we should ask someone who’s been convicted of embezzlement, forgery, or murder.
But what about these “no-live zones?” You can’t expect people not to live where there are children! This is true, because I’m always looking. Hear this: Avoid a cul-de-sac! But all seriousness aside, why can’t we ask child predators to live where there are no children? It’s not fair, critics say. Yeah, and it’s not fair to a kid when his or her life has been destroyed. So sorry, but that’s the breaks.
But what if he’s a deliveryman and he has to drive into an area where children live and he’s pulled over by a cop? Good point. But why is he being pulled over? And how can he be working? Didn’t you people say these individuals would never get hired?
How can a person be expected to wear a GPS monitor the rest of his or her life? What if he cuts it off? How can we monitor this? How can we afford this? This is cruel and unusual, and if it’s true that child predators already feel bad about themselves, wearing a monitor is only going to make them feel worse. They might even commit suicide! (Hmmm. I understand the same can be said for their victims.)
But not all sex offenders are the same! Sometimes they only do this when they’re drunk or are on drugs! (Oh, well that’s comforting.) And if these people can’t live or work in cities they’ll have to go into rural areas where there are no jobs and they’ll end up on welfare! We should be spending money on education programs and working to prevent substance abuse and helping those with mental illness – not throwing people in jail! Fine. But what about all the research that says that child predators never ever f*cking stop?
This is only a portion of the argument against Jessica’s Law. Truth be told, I have a couple issues myself. The law may require mandatory 25 years to life sentences for a first time aggravated sexual assault against a child. I don’t have too much trouble with that. But in the event the predator is released from prison and is arrested and convicted again, he or she might be sentenced to death. Actually, I don’t really have an issue with that, either.
The problem, some say, is that the Supreme Court and others might. We can usually justify capital punishment when we have a corpse, but can we put someone to death who hasn’t committed murder? Actually… yes. We have… we do.
And one might argue that it is murder. The death of innocence, a slow lingering death worse than homicide. There is plenty of evidence, I’m sure, to support this. No, I don’t have a problem with putting a child rapist to death. My problem is with the law. Why wait until the second conviction? Molesting a kid and getting caught is okay – you can live – but do it twice and you’re really screwed? A fine message to relay to that first victim. Your life is ruined, sweetie, but not that ruined.
Gosh darn. If I were a convicted pedophile and I knew I’d be on Death Row if my next victim squealed, I’d make sure that kid kept quiet. And generally there’s only one way to ensure that.
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