Massachusetts is considering a Jessica's Law that would require a mandatory 20-year sentence for the rape of a child under 12. State Rep. James Fagan, who is also a defense attorney, has outraged victims' rights advocates by saying, during a recent floor debate, that he would "rip apart" 6-year-old victims on the witness stand and "make sure the rest of their life is ruined." Reports the Boston Herald:
In a fiery soliloquy on the House floor, Fagan said he'd grill victims so that, “when they're 8 years old they throw up; when they're 12 years old, they won't sleep; when they're 19 years old, they'll have nightmares and they'll never have a relationship with anybody.”
I take back almost every bad thing I've said about any Indiana state legislator.
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Someone who is raped probably already throws up and won't sleep. And when a child of five is raped, he has recurring nightmares even when he's fifty.
I'm not sure 12 is the right age. I've seen a lot of genealogical records showing marriage and childbirth at the age of 12 and 13, but if they make it 10, I'd bite.
Although instead of 20-year jail sentences, I'd fund the construction of huge Osterizers, and sentence the perps to 60 seconds on "frappe".