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I personally think 3rd and 4th degree should be a very long sentence but with reformative efforts. 1st and 2nd should be life without parole (as much as I'd like to hang rapists myself, I know that the CJ system is imperfect and you can't reverse a death sentence like you can an incarceration sentence).
Women may be afraid to leave their homes because of violence, but the person most likely to be a victim of a violent crime is not a woman, nor an elderly person, nor a child. The person statistically most likely to be a member of a violent crime is a young man in his late teens or early twenties.
The notion that there is a "war on women" finds little support outside sensationalized accounts of crime that are carried by newspapers and t.v. This is nothing new. William Randolph Hearst specialized in this kind of journalism when he established his first newspaper. Critics soon gave this kind of journalism the name "yellow journalism" in the early 1900's. True or not, it sold a lot of newspapers and made Hearst millions.
One violent crime is one too many. However, what the often near paranoid discussions on this forum obscure is the fact that violent crime has been dropping substantially in this country for over a decade. Yet, most people who are asked about crime will tell you that "it is everywhere" and is "increasing constantly". I attribute much of this attitude towards the abundance of shows like "Law and Order" "Nancy Grace", and "America's Most Wanted". Those who watch satellite t.v. may know there is an entire channel dedicated to true crime watchers now know as the "ID Channel". Clearly, there is a huge appetite for the kind of fear and hysteria such shows create. I watched a show tonight with my wife which discussed in detail a murder in which took place fourteen years ago and a conviction for it that occurred nine years before. My point? If these people have to go back this far there is not enough current material available.
The FBI keeps detailed crime statistics from every state in this country. FBI statistics for 2011 indicate that last year alone, violent crime which is defined as murder, rape, robbery, and kidnapping declined by 6% from 2010.
For anyone who is interested in rationally discussing this topic I am including the link.
In fact, in some places like New York City, the drop in homicides has been quite profound. Murder peaked in New York City back in 1990 when there were 2245 homicides. Today, there are approximately 500 per year which represents a total decline of approximately 75%. No one would want to be one of those 500 people, but this problem needs to be seen in its proper perspective.
Now, what about the USA as a whole? Crime statistics indicate that violent crime has declined 70% since its peak around 1990. I wonder if the people on this forum who talk about a "war on women" believe that these statistics are "made up" and some sort of a conspiracy?
Add that most times the victims KNOW their attacker and men are so much less likely to report due to the stigma of it.
I for one, am SOOO tired of hearing "we must protect our kids", ...so let's make this ineffective law named after some dead kid, and when that doesn't work, we'll make another, and nobody cares how much it costs or what innocent people get hurt in the process (collateral damage)
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation." ~ Adolf Hitler
But, I swear this must be emboldened inside the front cover of the manuals used by entities such as: DCFS...since they love using Gestapo like tactics.
Anyway, I'm in danger of getting of-topic.
The problem is all these "systems" are so interwoven and many of them are corrupt.
As I've said, MOST victim's know their attackers. Yes, sometimes people are attacked by strangers and rarely a child is lured by a stranger, but the media and Government are responsible for an awful lot of fear-mongering
In Las Vegas, an EMS worker was addicted to pain medication, and they found water in the vials for injectable pain medication to be given to trauma victims on the way to the ER.
Nothing surprises me any more.
This is beyond disgraceful.
new laws need to be written, what about the elderly? i knew a dr. in So Fl he told me stories about nursing homes...unreal...
Add that most times the victims KNOW their attacker and men are so much less likely to report due to the stigma of it.
I for one, am SOOO tired of hearing "we must protect our kids", ...so let's make this ineffective law named after some dead kid, and when that doesn't work, we'll make another, and nobody cares how much it costs or what innocent people get hurt in the process (collateral damage)
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation." ~ Adolf Hitler
But, I swear this must be emboldened inside the front cover of the manuals used by entities such as: DCFS...since they love using Gestapo like tactics.
Anyway, I'm in danger of getting of-topic.
The problem is all these "systems" are so interwoven and many of them are corrupt.
As I've said, MOST victim's know their attackers. Yes, sometimes people are attacked by strangers and rarely a child is lured by a stranger, but the media and Government are responsible for an awful lot of fear-mongering
Somehow, this post bothers me. I understand you have a love one that you say was falsely judged but, I guess being involved with several heinous cases of child abuse and murder in the last several years when you make the statement, "some dead kid"......just really seems so disrespecful.
Just take a look at these face or read these many, many stories at Unforgotten Angels on Facebook and I am familiar of so many more and say, "some dead kid"...
And, yes, I agree that CPS is often a joke or incompetent or plain out criminal in their actions. What do we do to change it, for the sake of these children that suffer so horribly ? One beaten, tortured and dead child is too many, IMO.
It's sad that those children died in such awful fashions, but it's wrong that politcians , fearmongers and the like, have used them to get support for laws that were badly thought out, and they still continue to do it.
Yes, one beaten , murdered child IS too many, as is ONE innocent person in jail or scared into taking a plea.
Too often forgotten are the children of those falsely accused, who are JUST as IMPORTANT
It is equal, I agree. That is why I am rethinking my opinion of the death penalty.
I have seen several laws as the result of some heinous crime against a child that are usually thought up and pushed for by the families and supporters of the murdered child because it certain things had been done, that child might have been saved. I don't find that wrong and it is not easy to get those laws passed.
One, in Denver, was that a child must be checked on more thoroughly when CPS, in response to complaints of abuse, were told that the child was being homeschooled. The CPS worker never saw the child and he was in the house, in a closet about the size of an oven, being starved to death.
An emotional subject for both of us and I am sorry what has happened to your family, I truly am.
And yet another sexual assault by an EMS responder - horrible, disappointing, to say the least. EMS, police officers, firefighters - this is about public trust and clearly, any violation of that necessary and expected trust is reprehensible.
For me personally, this is a real shocker - I grew up in this town [yes, years ago] so it is additionally horrible to me. Clearly it does not matter where such a violation occurs; however, definitely a shocker when it is too close to your own neighborhood!
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