When Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?

Recently, we have seen a significant number of crimes against children in the news. I am sure I'm not the only person who finds these reports altogether unsettling. What is happening to our world? What are we doing to our children? What does the future hold for these victimized kids? What does it hold for us as adults?

Pastor's Wife Accused of Trying to Drown Kids in Bathtub (California)
Gunman Storms Amish School, Kills 3, Self (Pennsylvania)
Mo. Student Held in Gunfire Incident (Missouri)¹
Mom Reportedly Hurls Baby at Boyfriend (Pennsylvania)
Mother, 4 Children Laid to Rest in S.C. (South Carolina)
Pedophile Priest Recounts Years of Abuse (California)
Virginia Foster Mother Attempting to Unadopt 15-Year-Old Son, Citing His Behavior (Virginia)
Parents Indicted in Teen Kidnap Case (Maine)
Ex-Teacher Sentenced in Fla. Sex Case (Florida)
Brother, Sister Sentenced in Nev. Attack [of 3- and 10-year old daughters] (Nevada)

The above is a sampling of headlines for a one week period in the month of October 2006 from various online news provider services² (for full articles, please refer to sources directly as their reporters covered the stories quite well and in detail). Not included here are even more stories that received national attention in the televised news. Every night we hear the horrors of what "we" are doing to our youth. It is enough to make one reconsider the simple of act of bringing another life into this world when we can't protect them, keep them whole, give them a deserving childhood.

And why is that we can't protect our children? In my opinion, this is largely due to the lack of applying a simple rule when handing out sentences - the punishment should fit the crime. The phrase is intended to be the basis in law and ethics. In principle, the application of a penalty should directly correlate to the seriousness of the crime committed. By any standards, this is subjective at best. If we intuitively knew what is too lenient or too severe, all States would have the same enforcement and it would not be called to question. Obviously, this is not the case.

For me it is simple, perhaps too simple. What is taken away from the victimized child - his/her childhood, self worth, mental stability, social withdrawal, guilt, etc. There have been numerous studies on the topic by people more qualified than me but the conclusions are often the same in terms of the [permanent] damage inflicted. Some of the above referenced stories involve a death. Those children don't even have the opportunity to overcome the obstacles of being a victim. Their life cut short, incredibly and needlessly short.

How do we measure this against the "rights" of the perpetrator? The comparison is impossible. The perpetrator willingly took action. The victim had no choice. The consequences of the perpetrator's actions are forever ingrained in the life of the victim and the victim's family. Which is not to say that the perpetrator and his family will not feel the effect, but again, there was a choice involved.

I say the laws and the penalties are not severe enough. The judicial system needs to be called to the attention of everyone. Why are we letting so many sex offenders back on the street? Why are we giving inept parents back their children when they can't care for and protect them? Why are we not looking at the work load and qualifications of those individuals in Child Protective Services? How do we justify a specific sentence with time off for good behavior?

For those that don't know me personally, I am typically quite liberal in my thoughts on politics, policy, human rights. This is one area where I couldn't be more conservative. I don't believe in the rehabilitation of sexual perpetrators. I don't believe in a parent being given 3, 4 and 5 chances to prove they can appropriately care for their child when they have already proven otherwise. I don't believe in the lack of investing in appropriate, qualified professionals and suitable work load for individuals who take child advocacy on as a profession (consequently, many of these people are more than qualified, underpaid, overworked and have their heart and soul in the right place - we just don't make it easy/possible for them to do their job well). I don't believe in time off for good behavior when their behavior to put them in prison was more horrific than should be imaginable and, unfortunately in today's world, is a large part of too many people's everyday reality.

I wish I had all the answers to provide the reform needed. In truth, there is so much wrong with the system, it would be easier to start again from scratch. My first call, make the punishment fit the crime. There is no penalty too great for those that so willingly sacrifice the innocence of a child for their own sake.

To read another article on punishment and crime, please see fellow Associated Content author, Morgan Summerfield's article: Let the Punishment Fit the Crime - Associated Content.

¹Children committing violence against children
²Headlines quoted from online news sources - CNN.com, FoxNews.com