The Pendragon's Hall

Barack Obama actually got it right. The Supreme Court's ruling that the death penalty for child rape cases violates the Constitutional ban on "cruel and unusual punishment" has prompted criticism from the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and provoked the possibility that the Pendragon will support him actively rather than merely sit out the election in hope of a better matchup in four years. Of course, the ruling as usual is so far out of the mainstream of America it is no surprise that the good senator would need to distance himself from it. But unlike McCain, Obama actually has a record to back up his rhetoric here. As a state senator, he supported legislation to give the supreme court greater authority to review death penalty cases, but opposed legislation to ban the death penalty altogether. His reasons for doing so are in complete line with the Pendragon's.

Obama admitted he does not know whether the death penalty actually deters future crime, but argued in his autobiography, that some crimes are "so heinous, so beyond the pale" that society is justified in expressing their outrage by meting out "the ultimate penalty." Agreed. Most psychatrists now believe that while many criminals can be saved, pedophiles seem to be beyond rehabilitation. Does this mean that executing one will deter another with those inclinations from acting on them? I don't know. I don't care. What it does mean is that one person who has so grossly overstepped the bounds of common decency is dead and I, the moral American taxpayer, do not have to shell out for his feed and water for the next thirty years or however long it takes the SOB to die. As for the argument that it is cruel and unusual punishment, as far as I can figure, the electric chair is probably less cruel than forced castration which is what some death penalty opponents think is better. Even prisoners in this case are more moral than the Supreme Court: look up the statistics of how many baby rapers are killed in prison by hardened criminals. Is it more cruel to be beaten to death or electrocuted?

So what does this mean for the great state of Louisiana? They should ignore the ruling. Andrew Jackson once commented on a Supreme Court ruling, "John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it." They can't. They rely on the respect for law that most Americans have. But this latest ruling makes a mockery of the law. And it's not final. The justices won't be on the bench forever.