McCain Reacts to "Kennedy vs Louisiana"

The case where the SC ruled that we can’t execute someone for raping a child:

As a father, I believe there is no more sacred responsibility in American society than that of protecting the innocence of our children. I have spent over twenty-five years in Congress fighting for stronger criminal sentences for those who exploit and harm our children. Today’s Supreme Court ruling is an assault on law enforcement’s efforts to punish these heinous felons for the most despicable crime. That there is a judge anywhere in America who does not believe that the rape of a child represents the most heinous of crimes, which is deserving of the most serious of punishments, is profoundly disturbing.

I have to say that its not particularly disturbing to me – there is a longstanding strain of thought amongst some judges that they really know better than anyone else, so no real surprise that the Supreme Court has ruled itself smarter than the people of Louisiana in this matter. The absurdity of the decision is very clear – unless capital punishment is in and of itself unconstitutional there is no rationale for a court to interfere with the particular reasons a jurisdiction imposes the death penalty as long as the trial and sentencing are in accordance with the United States Constitution. The people of Lousiana have determined that those who rape children put their own lives a jeopardy, and everyone outside Louisiana should just shut their traps about it unless they want to move to Louisiana and, by participating in Louisiana’s politics, work to change the law. But never let it be said that the Court is shy about sticking its nose in where it doesn’t belong.

That said, I’d like to remind everyone that I am an opponent of the death penalty – killing the SOB who raped a child won’t actually help the raped child and by putting the criminal at risk of death for rape we merely, in my view, increase the risk that it will be a rape/murder in order to dispose of the prime witness to the crime. Should such a proposal come up here in Nevada, I would work against it and vote against it – but its none of my particular business what the people of Louisiana decide, just at its none of theirs what we Nevadans decide. America does need a large dose of “mind your own business” education. What I am most disturbed with here is the judicial usurpation of the rights of the States, and the people. We are either free people ruling ourselves, or we are mere automatons carrying out the instructions of our judges – if this SC ruling is allowed to stand, then we will have surrendered another part of our precious right to self government.

This ruling also provides us with another strong reason for voting for John McCain in November – with McCain, we might get to a solid 5 conservative Justices, and thus start having a Court which obeys the Constitution at all times…with Obama, we’ll probably get to a solid 5 liberal Justices who will do the bidding of the kook left in matters of law. The choices in November are quite stark, and this case might end up playing a larger role than most expect at this point in time.