Saturday, July 5, 2008

Punishment Net Too Narrow

Another repeat child molester appears to have murdered the most recent of his multiple victims, a very young girl, in Vermont, and people there are talking about the death penalty for the offender this time.

Fine.

But what about the judges and parole/probation authorities who let the monster out to commit the crime and repeatedly loose such predators on the public?

If we are serious about stopping such atrocities we can do so by requiring these officials to publicly explain their actions, and imposing financial or other sanctions on them if they are unwilling or unable to provide rational justifications for their decisions.

Insofar as K.R. is concerned, they should face the same punishments as the perpetrators they allow to go free, but that's probably a smidgen too harsh. Nevertheless, some meaningful accountability with teeth is necessary for those who exercise significant power without ever being held to account for how they exercise their authority.

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