Now to another legal battle - a visceral fight involving the death penalty. Nobody in this country has been executed for a crime other than murder since 1964. But this week, the Supreme Court is going to hear a case about whether someone who rapes a child should be put to death. Here’s ABC’s Jan Crawford Greenburg.
It was a brutal crime. An 8-year-old girl raped at her home in Louisiana. Her stepfather Patrick Kennedy was convicted of the crime which so badly injured the girl she needed surgery. The girl lived, but Kennedy’s sentence for her rape was death. The Supreme Court this week will consider whether that sentence violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
“We’re dealing with a little girl whose heart, whose mind, whose soul is going to irreparably suffer. And this case is about: can society provide the most serious punishment for the violent rape that happened to this 8-year-old girl?” But Kennedy has some unlikely allies. Victims’ rights groups argue that executing child rapists could mean more children will die.
“If the offender knows that they don’t face any greater risk for killing the victim than they do for raping the victim, um, what is their incentive uh... to let the victim live?” Jody Plauche was kidnapped and raped as a young boy. His father killed the rapist in a shooting captured on camera. He was sentenced to community service. “He felt that I was going to be scarred for life.”
Plauche, now 35 years old, says he understands why his father took the law into his own hands, but does not think states should put child rapists to death. “A child who’s been raped has been through enough. If they have to live with the burden that - usually it’s a trusted adult - someone that they care about, is now going to be put to death because they told, that’s an extra trauma to that child.”
The Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that it was unconstitutional to execute people who rape adults. But they’ve never ruled on child rapists. Six states impose the death penalty for child rape. Others are considering it. If the court upholds his sentence, Kennedy could be the first person executed in more than 30 years for a crime other than murder. Jan Crawford Greenburg, ABC News, Washington.
※ be through : = be finished 1. He'll be through with his meeting soon. / only one more letter to write. I'm nearly through. 2. Let me know when you're through with the hairdryer. 3. I'm through with him. 그와는 끝장났다. 4. Are you through with politics? 정치에서 손 떼었습니까?
legal : 법률(상)의, 법률에 관한, 합법의(lawful) visceral : 내장의, 창자의, <병이> 내장을 침범하는, 본능적 인, 마음속에서 느끼는 / relating basic emotions that you feel very deeply and find it difficult to control or ignore, and that are not the result of thought ex. a visceral reaction 본능적 반응 death penalty : 사형 execute : 수행하다 (carry out), 실시 [실행]하다 사형을 집행하다, 처형하다 ex. execute a person for murder ~ 을 살인죄로 처형하다 the Supreme Court : 미대법원 hear : ~ 의 진술을 듣다, (사건 따위를) 심문 [심리]하다 ex. hear a case 사건의 심리를 하다 ex. hear the defendant 피고의 증언을 듣다 rape : 강간하다, 강탈하다, 강간, 강탈, 약탈 * an attempted rape 강간 미수 put ~ to death : ~를 사형에 처하다 brutal : 잔인한, 냉혹한, 난폭한, <날씨가> 혹독한, 굉장한 stepfather : 의붓아버지, 계부 / step- "의붓, ~계(繼)" 의 뜻 * stepmother 의붓어머니, 계모/ * stepsister 의붓자매 / * stepbrother 의붓형제 / * half sister 배다른 자매/ * half brother 배다른 형제 convict : 유죄를 확정하다 [입증, 선고]하다, 기결수 * convict someone of something : ~ 유죄판결을 내리다 ex. Robinson was convicted of the murder of his mother and brother. ex. a convicted prisoner 기결수 / ex. ex-convict 전과자 (=ex-con) * conviction : 유죄 판결, 신념 (firm belief), 확신 ban : 금지 [령], ~ 을 금지하다 * ban against (or on) : There will be a total ban on smoking. /* impose a ban : ex. They agreed to impose an immediate ban on sales. /* lift a ban : ex. The ban is unlikely to be lifted this year. /* ban someone from (doing) something : ex. She was banned from athletics for two years after failing a drug test. cruel : 잔혹한, 잔인한, 무자비한 irreparable : 수선[회복]할 수 없는, 돌이킬 수 없는 (opp. reparable ) ally : <을> 동맹 [결연, 연합, 제휴] 시키다, 제휴하다, 동맹하 다, 동맹국, 맹방, 동맹자 ex. The United States was once allied with Russia. 미국은 한때 러시아 와 동맹을 맺었다. incentive : 격려, 자극, 유인, 동기 community service : (교도소의 수감 대신으로 하는) 지역 봉사 (활동) scar : 흉터, (마음·명성 등의) 상처 , vt. ~ 에 상처를 남기 다, vi. 흉터가 남다 ex. She dropped the ashtray and scarred the table. 그녀가 재떨이를 떨 어뜨려서 테이블에 자국이 났다. take the law into one's own hands : (법률에 의하지 않고) 사적 제재를 가하 다 ex. Citizens don't have the right to take the law into their own hands. 시민에 게는 사적 제재를 가할 권리가 없다. care about : ~ 에 마음쓰다, ~ 에 관심을 가지다 ex. No one seemed to care about her feelings. trauma : 외상 (外傷), 외상성 장애, (영구적인 정신 장애를 남기는) 충격, 쇼크 * traumatize : 외상을 입히다, (영속적인 영향을 남길) 정신적 충격을 주다 ex. Many children are traumatized by their parents' divorce. unconstitutional : 헌법 위반의, 위헌의 impose : 〔부담.세금.형벌.의무 따위〕를 지우다 * impose taxes on(or upon) a person's property ~ 의 재산에 과세하 다. * impose a ban on ~ : ex. They agreed to impose an immediate ban on sales. * pose : 포즈를 취하다 , ~ 인 체하다 , < 사람 . 일이 > ( 문제 따위 ) 를 ( 남 ) 에게 일으키다. ex. police officers posing as customers 고객으로 가장한 경찰관들 / ex. pose as a detective 형사인체 하다, 형사로 가장하다 * pose a problem/difficulty/risk/threat : ex. We are being told that the accident poses no threat to the environment. ex. pose a serious threat to the security of the state 국가의 안전을 몹시 위협하다. * pose a challenge: ex. They had been expected to pose a serious challenge to the main parties. uphold : ~ 을 들어올리다, ~ 을 높이 떠받치다, 지지하다 ex. I cannot uphold your conduct. 나는 너의 행동에 찬성할 수 없다. ex. The Home Secretary's decision was upheld by the court.