DEATH FOR MOLESTERS?; EXPANSION OF PENALTY ENDORSED BY CHECCHI.Byline: Dan Bernstein The Sacramento Bee Gov. Pete Wilson For others named Pete Wilson, see . Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. Wilson served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that , who frequently talks tough on crime, has never broached the subject. California Attorney General The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of the government of the state of California in the USA. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (California Constitution, Article V, Section 13. Dan Lungren Daniel Edward (Dan) Lungren (born September 22, 1946), is a Republican of the United States House of Representatives representing California's 3rd congressional district (see map), located in the suburbs of Sacramento where he has served since 2005. , a staunch and vocal advocate of the death penalty, has never suggested it. Yet when it comes to capital punishment capital punishment, imposition of a penalty of death by the state. History Capital punishment was widely applied in ancient times; it can be found (c.1750 B.C.) in the Code of Hammurabi. , Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Al Checchi is willing to go where no other California politician - Democrat or Republican - has gone before in recent years. Checchi has proposed that the death penalty not only be strongly enforced, but also be made available for repeat child molesters and serial rapists. While the proposal might help distinguish Checchi from other candidates, law professors interviewed by The Sacramento Bee said it is probably unconstitutional. ``It's been virtually the unanimous view of courts in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. that the death penalty for anything other than murder is unconstitutional,'' said Robert Weisberg, a criminal law professor at Stanford University. ``Checchi is engaged in pure demagoguery Demagoguery Hague, Frank (1876–1956) corrupt mayor of Jersey City, N. J., for 30 years. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 1173] Long, Huey P. (1893–1935) infamous “Kingfish” of Louisiana politics. [Am. Hist. .'' Linda Carter, a death penalty expert at McGeorge School of Law, agreed that Checchi's proposal would not fare well in the courts. ``I think it would probably be viewed as a disproportionate (penalty) and a violation of the cruel and unusual punishment Such punishment as would amount to torture or barbarity, any cruel and degrading punishment not known to the Common Law, or any fine, penalty, confinement, or treatment that is so disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community. clause of the 8th Amendment,'' she said. Checchi, who unveiled the proposal while announcing his candidacy in September, said in an interview that he feels strongly that the death penalty is appropriate in certain nonhomicide cases. ``We reserve the death penalty for the most heinous crimes in our society,'' he said. ``I consider the destruction of the spirit of a child or women to be the most serious of crimes.'' Checchi said he was not surprised that law professors did not look kindly on his proposal. ``It's common for law professors to be opposed to the death penalty,'' he said. And he denied suggestions by Republican political consultants that his death-penalty proposal was driven by a desire to position himself as the most conservative Democrat in a possibly crowded primary. ``My motivation in this campaign is that I have an opportunity to put before my fellow citizens my personal opinions on a wide variety of issues and my recommendations on how to get society back on track,'' Checchi said. |
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