Posted on 08/08/2002 12:43:24 PM PDT by FormerLurker
Edited on 05/07/2004 7:12:35 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
...The Judicial system is flawed, and corrupt, I agree. But, if the rule of law is subverted by the majority or the minority, then, I have reason to fear my liberty and property by you, that condone this act as justifiable...
Feel Better Now – The Bad Guy's Dead
David C. Stolinsky Thursday, Aug. 8, 2002
Be not afraid of any man, no matter what his size. When danger threatens call on me, and I will equalize. – 19th century ad for Colt revolvers
Recently I was feeling sorry for myself – not really depressed, but overly absorbed with minor problems. I sat down to lunch in a grumpy mood and turned on the radio.
First I heard that two teenage girls had been kidnapped at gunpoint from a lover's lane in California at 1 a.m. A massive hunt was on for them and the man who took them. The 37-year-old's criminal record began at age 10 and included burglary, carjacking, drug possession and raping a family member. Why he was free was not stated.
This didn't improve my mood. I feared that the girls would end up like so many young people lately – either dead by a roadside or missing for an indefinite period. I feared that their parents and friends were in for a long and painful wait.
But then a breaking news story interrupted the commentary. It was reported that both girls had been found alive and the kidnapper had been shot dead. Apparently he was looking for a place to bury the girls when authorities spotted his vehicle. At this my mood improved, and I began to eat with a better appetite. Then a correction noted that the girls were indeed all right, but the kidnapper was alive and in custody. I could feel my mood darken again.
I had assumed that my improved frame of mind was due to relief that the girls were alive and well, and that their kidnapper was under arrest and unable to harm anyone else, at least for now. Clearly, this happy news was on my mind. Yet if this was the sole cause of my improved mood, why did it worsen again when I heard that the criminal was alive? As I pondered this question while finishing my coffee yogurt, a further bulletin was aired.
A sheriff's spokesman announced that the man was indeed dead at the scene. A reporter added that kidnappers shouldn't come to that county, because they'd be shot. And sure enough, my mood improved again. Why? Wasn't it enough that the two girls were alive and outwardly well? Wasn't it enough that an armed criminal was safely in custody?
No, it wasn't enough.
Fourteen-year old Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her Utah bedroom and remains missing two months later. There are no definite suspects. Seven-year-old Danielle Van Dam was kidnapped from her California bedroom. Later her nude body was found so decomposed that a dentist had to identify it. The accused murderer is on trial.
Five-year-old Samantha Runnion was kidnapped from in front of her California home. Her nude body was found by a roadside. The accused murderer is in custody. He had previously been acquitted of molesting two 9-year-old girls, though he admitted touching one of them repeatedly while "bathing" her. His lawyer got him off by accusing the girls of having been "coached" and referred to the case as a "win." We might have a different opinion.
Five-year-old Rilya Wilson disappeared from the Florida foster children's program, but nobody noticed for 15 months. DNA tests may reveal whether the decapitated body of a young girl is Rilya, but if not, who is she? Two-year-old Jahi Turner remains missing after having been kidnapped from a California park over three months ago. On a happier note, 7-year-old Erica Pratt escaped from a Philadelphia basement by gnawing through the duct tape binding her hands, then kicking out a door panel and yelling for help. The two kidnappers were caught.
While preparing this article, I couldn't recall Erica's name, so I searched Google for "kidnapped girl." I found 182,000 entries, indicating that Google is a powerful search engine – and also that we're in deep trouble. Perhaps all this bad news had been on my mind. Perhaps the deterrent value of being shot to death was glaringly obvious. Perhaps my subconscious knew that the scales of justice are seriously out of balance. Perhaps the news that the kidnapper of the two teenagers had been shot dead by sheriff's deputies helped to balance the scales a bit.
When scales are out of balance, they need to be rebalanced.
Early in the last century, trials were brief and punishment prompt. In 1901, President McKinley was shot with a handgun that was advertised in the Sears catalog for $3.27 – including postage.
But the assassin was executed 53 days after the crime. The homicide rate in 1901 was only about one-fifth of what it is now. Which factor seems to have a greater effect on homicide: easy access to guns, or prompt punishment of murderers?
Does the death penalty deter criminals? In 1950 the homicide rate was 5.3 per 100,000; there was one execution for every 67 homicides. By 1960 the homicide rate was 4.7, but now there was only one execution for every 151 homicides. The courts blocked all executions from 1968 through 1976, and from 1977 through 1980 there were exactly three in the entire nation.
Homicide reached its 100-year peak of 10.7 in 1980. It is difficult to claim that this was a mere coincidence, and not a result of our misplaced sympathy for murderers. Executions then increased slowly. By 1992 the homicide rate was 10.0; there were 31 executions and 23,760 homicides, or one execution for every 766 homicides. Even if capital punishment deterred murderers when it was used on one in 67 of them, could it still deter when the odds improve to one in 766, and that after an average of 11 years' delay? But by 1995 executions had increased to 56, or one for every 386 homicides, perhaps in part explaining the recent fall in homicide.
Other factors were at work. We can't say that the 13-year virtual moratorium on executions was the sole cause of the peak in homicide. But we can say that the moratorium clearly did not cause a fall in homicide. Those who claim that abolishing the death penalty would teach nonviolence ignore the evidence from this 13-year nationwide experiment, which is the best evidence we are likely to see. Abolishing capital punishment may be argued on religious or philosophical grounds, but not because it is a promising idea worth trying. It was tried and didn't work.
President Kennedy remarked that those who make peaceful change impossible will make violent change inevitable. Likewise, those who make legal justice unavailable will make extralegal justice unavoidable. Americans by nature tolerate a good deal of violence and disorder. We aren't a particularly orderly people. But our tolerance has limits.
If the courts don't execute murderers, especially murderers of children, the police will have to shoot them – while resisting arrest, of course. And if the police don't shoot them, eventually ordinary citizens will. Eventually people will stop tolerating the intolerable. Thanks to Megan's Law, the names and addresses of child molesters and sexual predators are now available. If we don't want vigilantes to come calling, we need to assure our children's safety by other means.
Maybe the two teens shouldn't have been out so late. Maybe Samantha shouldn't have been in the yard with only her friends and no adult. But blaming the victim is no longer popular. Indeed, it's getting really annoying. When I was 8 years old, I walked to school alone through a park. Back then, there was more poverty and racism than there is now. There were more violent images, too – World War II was raging. But back then, people were held responsible for their own actions, so there was less crime. And kids could grow up without fear. Molesters lived in fear then. Now kids do. That's progress?
I was more cheerful as I finished my coffee yogurt because I knew the kidnapper and rapist of the two girls could never hurt anyone else. Never. But beyond that, I knew that the scales of justice were just a bit more balanced than they had been an hour earlier. It may be that some of the anxiety and depression so commonly felt by Americans is the result of a continual bombardment of news about kidnapped and brutalized children – but a dearth of news about the execution of the perpetrators. We can't help but be affected by all this unanswered violence against the most innocent and vulnerable, leaving us with a profound sense of helplessness and injustice.
If people think they are helpless in an unjust world, it's no surprise when they feel depressed and anxious. But instead of large doses of "happy" pills, perhaps all they need is to feel a bit less helpless, in a world that's a bit less unjust.
A good way to accomplish this is to straighten our bent justice system. This may take some time. Meanwhile, you'll understand if you see me smiling when I hear that at least one bad guy got what he deserved.
Yes, I feel better now. Don't you?
SD
For that matter, why was the child molester not in jail? Government is failing its primary duty, that of protecting its citizens, while it wastes billions on various entitlements and boondoggles.
Just tie and rope and brand 'em...
Yeah, the justice system is working really well. Why wasn't this guy and the convicted murderer (supposedly serving a life sentence) in jail? They just keep turning these predators loose to rape and kill again.
I condone it!
These guys should have taken it to trial. I bet at least one juror would feel the same as I do.
The pillory is better!
The government, by assuring a certain amount of outrageous crimes like this, and by being purposely lenient on criminals who do them, makes for a permanently unstable society, where people are constantly clamoring and pleading for more governmental intervention, of all kinds.
The people who gravitate toward government service are precisely the type of codependent, sick bastards, who would much rather nurture and grow problems like crime, rather than solve them, to ensure their continued worthless jobs, pensions, and existences.
Ditto why they don't want to fix the public schools.
Like it or not, kids grow up. Reform the system now, and, come hell or high water, in eight years, the kids are on line. In other words, they are purposely not fixing the schools, to ensure more brain-dead Rat voters in the future.
Yeah, the justice system is working really well. Why wasn't this guy and the convicted murderer (supposedly serving a life sentence) in jail? They just keep turning these predators loose to rape and kill again.
Put down your pitchfork and try putting a time line together.
Also from the same article:
The three men admitted in court Monday that they attacked neighbor Phillip Gibson in his Pontiac home Nov. 11, 2000, after the boys' weeping mother asked them for help. They said she told them her children had just accused Gibson -- their uncle -- of abusing them.
The molestor was attacked by a vigilante mob in 2000. He pled guilty to his crime in June 2001. He was not "in jail" cause he hadn't had a trial yet. That's how we do things in rational society. And he wasn't "turned loose" to "rape and kill again" cause he hadn't been tried or jailed yet.
I realize reading for comprehension is tough when the animal juices are flowing, but mob justice is not a good thing. Ever.
SD
Also, when you get older, it's harder to pay attention to details. :) So, I bow to your superior ability on this score. As Roseanne Rosannadanna would say, "Never mind".
My thoughts exactly..
LOL...
He obviously did something else to get in trouble beyond what he did to the perv...
Funny that they don't mention what he did though..
Strange, I did a search for "vigilante" and didn't see it..
Not at all. I got a chuckle out of it myself. :)
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