Vermont and Jessica's Law

Vermont was the deserving recipient of last week's Flying, Fickle Finger of Fate (see Saturday's entry).

 

While "the Finger" pointed at Vermont for its overall leftist attitude toward crime, and almost everything else, a component in the "award" was the rape/murder of that 12 year old girl, with associated rumors of a possible child "sex ring".  This was after Vermont had become notorious for being "soft" on sex offenders.  Among other things, Vermont is one of 8 states (Massachusetts, of course, is another--no surprise, and another possible state toward which "the Finger" will eventually point) that have not passed a version of "Jessica's Law".

 

What is interesting about Vermont is that this horrific kidnapping/rape/murder has NOT seemed to provide any impetus toward passing Jessica's Law in Vermont.

 

In case you did not know, Jessica's Law (named after a child victim) is legislation imposing a mandatory minimum sentence for aggravated child rape.  The minimum suggested by people pushing the law is 25 years. 

 

Obviously, the law applies to forcible rape situations, and not to statutory rape of a "consenting" (whole point of statutory rape is that "consent" CANNOT BE GIVEN) 15 year old girl.  As I have said before in this blog, I think one consequence of our sex obsessed society is too LITTLE respect for statutory rape as a crime.  However, there is no doubt that a 25 year minimum sentence would hardly be appropriate in many cases of "consensual" statutory rape.

Is there anything wrong with Jessica's Law (if you are not a leftist in Vermont who does not believe in holding people responsible for what they do)?  Not really.  I have no problem with it. 

 

The only downside is what happens if you make the mandatory sentence so harsh that authorities try to avoid using the law (charging a "lesser" offense, or some such dodge).  A law which is not ENFORCED is useless, and it is possible to impede enforcement if a sentence is too harsh.   Depending on how the law is worded, however, 25 years is hardly too harsh for forcible child rape. 

 

If you are going to do a mandatory minimum sentence, I do favor making the mandatory minimum "without parole" (maybe adjusting the minimum down slightly to reflect no parole). What sense does it make to impose a "mandatory minimum" sentence, and then allow it to be undercut by parole?  None to me.

 

Vermont, of course, is unconcerned about any of this.  Although I am sure there are good people in the state, the state in general is lost to rationality--existing in a destructive, leftist fantasy world of its own.  Unfortunately, leftists are working hard to hijack the entire country into that same nightmare world of leftist fantasy.  The success of Jessica's Law being passed in most of the nation, in one form or another, does not change this seemingly inexorable march to the left--in morals and everything else. 

 

Still, as conservatives live in exile, we have to look for what beacons of light we can find--realizing that even beacons of light such as Jessica's Law cannot penetrate the darkness of a leftist state like Vermont.