Topic: Capital Punishment
“Enforce the death penalty where appropriate and applicable. Capital punishment is a sensitive matter, as it should be, but the current crime wave makes deterrence vital at the federal, state, and local levels. However, providing this punishment without ever enforcing it provides justice neither for the victims’ families nor for the defendant. The next conservative Administration should therefore do everything possible to obtain finality for the 44 prisoners currently on federal death row. It should also pursue the death penalty for applicable crimes – particularly heinous crimes involving violence and sexual abuse of children – until Congress says otherwise through legislation.”
This is concerning on a lot of levels. He has previously suggested that the “current crime wave” is illegal immigration, among other things. Is he suggesting putting illegal immigrants to death?
His choice of words here is interesting… “It should also pursue the death penalty for applicable crimes – particularly heinous crimes involving violence and sexual abuse of children – until Congress says otherwise through legislation.”
UNTIL CONGRESS SAYS OTHERWISE THROUGH LEGISLATION.
I’m not theoretically opposed, either, to putting sexual abusers of children to death. I don’t happen to believe that restorative justice applies here – the evidence suggests that child predators cannot be rehabilitated in most cases30. A compromise I like better than murder is chemical castration31.
But why would Congress “say otherwise” with legislation that child sex offenders should not be punished (or at least not punished with death?) Could it be because so many Congressional Republicans have been accused of sexual misconduct involving children?
See Florida Representative Mark Foley, former Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (who pleaded guilty to child molestation), Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, Republican Jim Jordan, Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, and Donald Trump himself, accused by dozens of women (and at least one child) of sexual assault, including barging in on Miss Teen USA pageant contestants as young as 15, who were changing clothes.
Republicans have rallied around these people. There are many more examples than mentioned above.
“The Republicans have apparently decided that the committee in charge of sex crimes legislation should include one guy currently being investigated for actual sex crimes—and another who allegedly looked the other way on them. It’s not exactly the behavior of a party that cares deeply about sexual abuse.” [Source]32 (They’re referring to Gaetz and Jordan respectively.)
Full contextual analysis of Section 3.8: Department of Justice here.