The Death Penalty in Texas

I've blogged about this issue before in some detail.  CrimProf has a long post about discussions in Texas about applying the death penalty to certain sex crimes:

Well, some Texas lawmakers are considering it by proposing new laws allowing capital punishment for repeat sex offenders. Other proposals include mandatory long sentences for first-time offenders or eliminating probation.  But the laws face fierce opposition from all sides, including prosecutors and victims advocates.  They fear some of the proposals would make it harder to get convictions and, perhaps, put children in even more danger by giving molesters incentive to kill the only potential witness to their crimes..."If the punishment for raping a child and raping and killing are exactly the same the rapist may kill so that witness is no longer there,'' says one crime victim advocate.

I really hope Texas legislators take heed of some of the arguments I have made before on the issue.  While reasonable people may disagree about the use of the death penalty generally, the arguments against applying it to sex offenders are extremely compelling.  The laws are just bound to be counterproductive to the stated goals of applying capital punishment, while causing all sorts of negative effects.

Comments

[Alec]

When I read this story I found the incentive argument really interesting. Economists have made similar arguments when proposals are made to equate the sentences for armed robbery with, say, second-degree murder. Of course, it will not be clear whether or not this law would even be constitutional until the appeals process for the guy on death row in Louisiana is settled. Right now, I'd say 5-4 unconstitutional.