Mandatory minimum sentences for child sex crimes

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Simple question, do you think there should be mandatory jail sentences for people convicted of sex crimes against minors? Keep in mind the person must be found guilty in a court of law and in cases where the accused themselves may be a minor, this could lead to a different charges being laid where mandatory minimums might not exist. In other words this only applies when a adult commits a sex crime against a minor, should there be a mandatory minimum prison sentence applied to the convicted person?

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[champu 1]

I like where your heart is at, but no.

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

Hi Canuck,

Here in Oregon, we have Measure 11 crimes that have minimum sentences for many things.

It is a system that does not work IMO.

That is what a judge is for; to judge.

JerryBaumchen

[Arvoitus 1]

Define sex crime. Every time there is some news story of someone being sentenced on sex crime involving kids the comment section goes crazy when the punishment isn't enough in their opinion but in reality the crimes can be anything from talking inappropriately to kids to actual vaginal/anal penetration.

In my opinion actual molesters, you know people who actually diddle kids, won't be changed by putting them into prisons. They need to be chemically castrated and/or put to therapy.

Your rights end where my feelings begin.

[DaVinci 0]

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Simple question, do you think there should be mandatory jail sentences

Not a fan of mandatory sentences in most cases. You get cases like Marissa Alexander's where she most likely didn't use *great* judgement but did not deserve 20 years.

And when you factor in cases like a 17 year old had sex with a willing 16 year old. Or how a guy on the side of the road peeing getting labeled as "Sex offenders".

You can see why I don't like them.

On the flip side you see a guy like one of the people arrested in Chicago for the firefight at the park.... And you read he had ALREADY been arrested for using a firearm in the commission of a crime. you wonder how in the hell did that guy ever get out of prison?

The problem is that judges do not seem willing to do their jobs. So legislation steps in and Govt rarely makes things better, IMO.

[jclalor 12]

There's a huge difference between consensual sex between a 21 year old and a 17 year old and any rape of a 6 year old by a 21 year old. They are not the same crimes.

I'm all for mandatory minimums involving non-consensual sex where the victim is under 18, perhaps even adding another 2 years for each year younger the victim is.

I actually see no issue with child sex offenders being removed from society for life. I believe People's sexuality is hard wired from birth, just as you can never expect a gay or straight person to reverse their sexuall attraction, you can't expect a pedophile to change. You can't change how a person thinks, but once they act upon it, remove them from society.

[DrewEckhardt 0]

No, because "sex crime against a minor" is so broadly defined and law enforcement personal often abuse such broadly written laws where the accused didn't violate the spirit of the law but will be convicted for breaking its letter by a jury leaving the judge's sentencing discretion as the only mechanism that can provide justice.

My wife and I have a very secluded yard, as in the least obstructed side is blocked by a six foot high privacy fence. It's a great place to hang out with palm trees and tropical plants and would be a fine site for outdoor sex on a warm summer day.

Our neighbors on the other side of that six foot (I wanted a taller fence, but that's all city code allows) fence are schmucks who installed a security camera that sees over its top (we've checked, and this is legal).

A sufficiently inclusive law would make us sex criminals with a minor victim if their daughter watched the security camera footage of us doing our thing in our private yard.

[kelpdiver 2]

Arvoitus

Define sex crime. Every time there is some news story of someone being sentenced on sex crime involving kids the comment section goes crazy when the punishment isn't enough in their opinion but in reality the crimes can be anything from talking inappropriately to kids to actual vaginal/anal penetration.

The worst case being kids who received a nude pic of a classmate and forwarded it.

[DaVinci 0]

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I believe People's sexuality is hard wired from birth, just as you can never expect a gay or straight person to reverse their sexuall attraction, you can't expect a pedophile to change.

Do you feel criminals are hard wired to be criminals? Say violent criminals?

[wmw999 2,122]

I kind of agree with jclalor, but think there's a continuum -- i.e. someone who's strongly sexed, and strongly gay, won't go either way. Someone who's weakly sexed, and weakly gay, might never realize it based on how they were raised.

Someone who's got a strong violent tendency will probably be violent; someone with a weaker one can control it, but if they're an alcoholic, or get with the wrong person, maybe not.

We're complicated little buggers, with lots of criss-crossing qualities, and describing someone by any one (or even couple) of those qualities is very incomplete. Might work for some limited situations, but you can't put people into boxes and think those boxes contain them.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[DaVinci 0]

wmw999

I kind of agree with jclalor, but think there's a continuum -- i.e. someone who's strongly sexed, and strongly gay, won't go either way. Someone who's weakly sexed, and weakly gay, might never realize it based on how they were raised.

Someone who's got a strong violent tendency will probably be violent; someone with a weaker one can control it, but if they're an alcoholic, or get with the wrong person, maybe not.

We're complicated little buggers, with lots of criss-crossing qualities, and describing someone by any one (or even couple) of those qualities is very incomplete. Might work for some limited situations, but you can't put people into boxes and think those boxes contain them.

Wendy P.

Well I ask (not that I disagree) but if violent criminals are wired to be that way.... then maybe they should never see daylight again.

Same with sexual predators. The trick is the details. I don't want to see another Alexander situation where a woman makes a bad choice, hurts no one and gets 20 years in jail. On the other hand the guy that was arrested in Chicago for gun violence and it was his SECOND offense clearly needs to never walk a free man again, and I have doubt he should of gotten a second chance.

[wmw999 2,122]

As of right now, we can only go based on behavior, because we don't know how to measure the wiring. And, would it be acceptable to proactively give someone a heavier sentence because they were wired that way, than if they weren't? When does biology enter into due process?

It's not something that fits into the Constitution. It's not something that fits into the way we want to be. It's real, it's not pleasant.

The rate at which we incarcerate people in the US is higher than nearly any other country in the world; we can't afford to look at these issues with the same glasses, we really can't. Throwing people away (which is what we do) doesn't stop them, it just removes their incentive to participate productively.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[jclalor 12]

I think there's a difference between people who commit crimes due to very poor decision making like greed, and then their are the sociopaths. The million dollar question is telling the two apart. There is know known cure for sociopaths, those are the ones who really scare me, a person who is capable of planning, committing and living with themselves with zero remorse after committing heinous crimes.

So I guess some people are hard-wired criminals.

I just feel very strongly that adults who commit premeditated crimes against children are a "Special" breed of Human, who deserves unique punishment.

[champu 1]

DrewEckhardt

Our neighbors on the other side of that six foot (I wanted a taller fence, but that's all city code allows) fence are schmucks who installed a security camera that sees over its top (we've checked, and this is legal).

Get one of those infrared LED light panels and set it up on a tripod in your yard shining directly into the security camera.

[DaVinci 0]

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As of right now, we can only go based on behavior, because we don't know how to measure the wiring.

I agree. I think that the standard should be based on history.

Say violence (because it is honestly less emotional that child sex charges). I have no problem with a guy with a history of violent crime being locked up forever.

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Throwing people away (which is what we do) doesn't stop them, it just removes their incentive to participate productively.

I think some people should be thrown away. Child sex abusers, violent criminals.... ALL should be thrown away. Small time drug dealers less of a sentence.

Prison should be to protect society as much as punishment for crimes. I'd be fine with work programs where small time drug dealers spent time painting city buildings as punishment.

[DaVinci 0]

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I think there's a difference between people who commit crimes due to very poor decision making like greed, and then their are the sociopaths. The million dollar question is telling the two apart.

I don't think it matters that much. The person who picked that path picked it. They made a decision. The sociopath is compelled, but still decided to do it.

In some cases either can be minimized... The poor guy gets a good job, the sociopath gets medication and therapy. But really, do you think it is worth either being unleashed back to do harm again?

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I just feel very strongly that adults who commit premeditated crimes against children are a "Special" breed of Human, who deserves unique punishment.

I think anyone who commits violence on another is a 'special' breed that should never see the light of day again. Not saying I disagree with your position, I just do not see habitual violent criminals being changed.

[DaVinci 0]

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Our neighbors on the other side of that six foot (I wanted a taller fence, but that's all city code allows) fence are schmucks who installed a security camera that sees over its top (we've checked, and this is legal).

Those damn kids and their BB guns!

[kallend 1,623]

No.

What is needed is a better way of selecting judges who actually exercise good judgment.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.