In a U.S. political environment where the two major parties agree on very little, there is one issue on which they are absolutely united: making life difficult for anyone with a sexual offense on their record. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) have re-introduced a bill to revoke the pensions of any federal worker who is found guilty of such an offense. Ernst makes a point of her own status as a survivor of sexual assault.
Meanwhile, Mississippi has joined the growing list of states where both parties have legislated the death penalty for certain sex offenses, not only making life difficult but literally terminating it. Under the new law, the death penalty is authorized in cases where sexual battery of a child under 12 results in damage to the child’s sexual organs, which is common in almost all acts of penetrative intercourse with a child that young. Only eight votes on the jury are required to impose the death penalty, unlike all other capital cases (including murder) where unanimous juries are required. These laws, now passed in seven states, directly challenge the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008). Imposing the death penalty in such cases would only increase the chance that the victim will be murdered to conceal the crime, that child victims will be re-traumatized by the lengthy court proceedings typical of capital cases, and that the abuse might not be reported at all if it comes from a family member. These laws are about political pandering to public outrage, not about the pursuit of justice for victims.
