As regular readers of this blog know, I have 0 tolerance for people who hurt kids.
The latest mockery of our system of laws sits in a Florida jail tonight in the “person” of John Evander Couey, a piece of trash with a 30-year long criminal history ending in the sexual abuse and murder of a 9 year old girl.
There’s a fine article on MSNBC’s site by Clint Van Zandt which provides the horrendous statistics on recidivism by child molesters, as well as the cost of keeping such “people” in jail.
Here’s some examples from his article:
The US Department of Justice has indicated that “the average child molester,” as if any such two-legged monster that could be considered “average,” commits 380 acts of child molestation during his lifetime.
An international study found a 43% rate of “known” recidivism among child molesters, with the more violent the offense, the greater the chance for repeat behavior.
(A)nother study indicated that a group of less than 250 known child molesters had admitted to attempting over 55,000 molestations involving almost 20,000 victims.
Mr. Van Zandt asks the same question which has been bugging me since the Reagan era: should we decriminalize minor crimes like marijuana use so that we can afford to permanently incarcerate “people” like John Evander Couey?
There’s no question in my mind that one of the main reasons our society is going to Hell in a handbag is because of the consistent failures of our criminal justice system.
I don’t care if it’s Boston, Chicago or Seattle – the system is broken, beyond repair.
This is due to the criminalization of drug use and other victimless crimes; the undue influence of defense attorneys (especially in this state re: drunk driving laws) on the political process; and the abuse of judicial appeals: it takes 20 years to adjudicate the average capital punishment case.
380 acts per child molester is about 380 too many. Since “the system” which we pay for doesn’t work to protect our kids, then I say we need a new one based on everything that seems to be lacking in the courts – one based on common sense, common decency and normal, natural, basic human revulsion.