Tennessee governor OKs bill allowing death penalty for child rape convictions

Wilshire@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 137 points –
Tennessee governor OKs bill allowing death penalty for child rape convictions
apnews.com
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And this is why the "groomer" name calling epidemic is so sinister. They are close to making being non CIS presenting illegal and tantamount to being a child rapist.

What context are we talking about? Are you saying that LGBTQ folks are being labeled as groomers?

Edit: downvoted for asking a question.

I think that's what OP is saying, that conservatives are (and have been) trying to associate the word "groomer" as being a purely LGBTQ+ thing, and that no straight man or woman is capable of child rape. We all know that's false, as just about everything we see in regards to child rape has been done by white males (priests and alter boys, for example) and white females (teachers having sex with students, for example).

cultsuperstar already answered, but I want you to know I agree that it’s nonsensical to downvote questions. Others may have the same question, and downvoting it will only hide the question and answer from view.

Are you saying that LGBTQ folks are being labeled as groomers?

It's been going on for a long time now - where have you been living?

I've heard something about trans folks and bathrooms or lockers, but that's about it.

...because the threat of a death penalty worked so well to eliminate the occurrence of other crimes.

I don't think the idea here is deterrent. I think probably the point is to remove these subhuman scum from the earth and thus make it a better place.

Personally, I like the idea of execution for violent rape of children, but I like the idea of that for violent rape of anyone. My concern is of course false convictions. Perhaps this is something best reserved for second offenses.

If we're looking to improve humanity through murder, we could start with everyone who thinks it's ok to do so.

Once we let the state kill it's citizens, it's just a matter of time before you're no longer in the group that controls the criteria.

Until we have a justice system that convicts with 100% accuracy, supporting the death penalty means supporting the execution of a nonzero number of innocent people.

I agree, but any undue punishment at all is unjust, so that logic can apply across the board. That's why I think only second offenses should be punishable by death, the likelihood that you've been accused and convicted of the same crime twice and been innocent both times is much lower.

Sure, it sounds good, until they rewrite the definition of "child rape" to be "gender-affirming care" or "hosting a drag queen story hour" or it's not "rape" if a white guy does it.

If you think Bill Lee has any intention of making the world a better place I've got a bridge to sell you

Bad humans are still humans, and like you said, death penalty will just kill innocents.

Especially as a growing number of right wing extremists are just labeling trans of gay people as child predators with reckless abandon

I think probably the point is to remove these subhuman scum from the earth and thus make it a better place.

No, the intention is to pretend that they are doing something about sexual assault - which is why you never see these laws applied to their rich friends.

5 more...
5 more...

I’m sure the first victim will be a rich white man.

No. The convictions for rich white men will go as well as the Trump convictions have gone thus far.

The convictions will go through quickly for the LGBTQ community because that is where the allegations will be thrown at, and the jury will be hung for anyone cis white male, and will be unanimous in the conviction of everyone else.

Geez how crazy is it that I misread this as 'death penalty for child rape victims' and was like 'yo that's fucked up... But I'm not surprised '

The danger with something like this is, if the punishment is the same for raping as killing, why would a rapist leave the victim alive?

And convictions of innocent people who are killed by the state just increase. We should believe victims, but also ensure the rights of the accused.

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Bill Lee has approved legislation allowing the death penalty in child rape convictions, a change the Republican-controlled Statehouse championed amid concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court has banned capital punishment in such cases.

The new Tennessee law, which goes into effect July 1, authorizes the state to pursue capital punishment when an adult is convicted of aggravated rape of a child.

A few months after being enacted, Florida prosecutors in Lake County announced in December that they were pursuing the death penalty for a man accused of committing sexual battery of a minor under the age of twelve.

However, they hope the conservative-controlled Supreme Court will reverse that ruling — pointing to the decades long effort that it took to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that legalized abortion nationwide but was eventually overruled in 2022.

The Supreme Court ruled nearly 40 years ago that execution is too harsh a punishment for sexual assault, and justices made a similar decision in 2008 in a case involving the rape of a child.

Lee issued the pause after a blistering 2022 report detailed multiple flaws in how Tennessee inmates were put to death.


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