A Georgia woman killed her five-week-old child. She should be going to jail for a very long time. She's not. Instead, a judge has ordered that she have her tubes tied. This is scary--partly because a killer won't spend years in jail, and partly because a judge has given himself the power to order the sexual mutilation of defendants.

For the better part of the first half of the twentieth century, most states in the union--including Georgia--retained the authority to forcibly sterilize people they deemed unfit for reproduction. Beginning with Indiana's sterilization laws of 1907, state governments took away the reproductive abilities of about 70,000 Americans. In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed these atrocities in Buck v. Bell, when Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes infamously remarked: "Three generations of imbeciles are enough." Margaret Sanger, George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, and other progressives of the day seconded Holmes in their unflinching faith in the wisdom of science and the power of the state. This is inspected in great depth in the book, War Against the Weak (which I highly recommend), and touched upon in my book, Intellectual Morons (which I also highly recommend).

It's easy to cast stones upon the Germans for their adoption of eugenics as a national program not only because their experiment was so evil, but because they are foreigners. It's more difficult to come to grips with ugly aspects of our own national past. While the scope of our eugenics laws never approached the scope of Germany's laws, our eugenics policies predated Germany's--and every other modern nation's--eugenics policies. Santayana famously quipped, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." A judge in Georgia has learned nothing from his state's contemptible dalliance with eugenics.

What an outrage! Impeach! I cannot believe a mother can murder her five-week-old child and not receive the death penalty, much less jail time. Surely this is a consequence of our culture of death.

As for sterilizing this woman: I agree that it sets a dangerous precedent, but in isolation it seems just. Such a woman should be prohibited from having further children. I would prefer that prohibition be carried out via the Guillotine, but short of that, I do not see the wrong in sterilizing her.

So, in Georgia now, murder is not a crime punishable by prison time or death?

The judges decision is illogical.

"The judges decision is illogical."

The terrifying reply is, "Not necessarily." If the judge is reasoning from the premises that it is acceptable to abort an unborn child, and there is no significant difference between an unborn and five-week old child, then the conclusion follows.

As I said, this is a consequence of our culture of death.

Permanent deformation of a basic and incredible biological capacity is not just, even in isolated cases. It is also a violation of due process, assuming that the GA legislature has not codified sterilization a punishment for anything.

Your right Brad about this being another basically hum-drum episode in the Culture of Death. I disagree about sterilization though. The reason it is unjust is that it doesn't fit the crime. The crime wasn't giving birth but murder.

But here is a sad thought, do you think that the judge's decision to sterilize her is his attempt to fight against the culture of death? What I mean is that he could possibly be thinking that given that abortion is legal and easy to procure, and that monitoring this woman to ensure that if she ever has another child it be removed from her custody and made a warden of the court would be too difficult then he might feel forced to the drastic measure of stopping her from getting pregnant again in the first place.

I would like to know why giving her the death penalty or life imprisonment was found to be impossible? Maybe she was judged incompetent? Even if such a sentence was deemed too harsh they could lock her up until menopause.

Is this Sparta, Georgia? (As opposed to Athens.) So now we're allowed one child exposure?

Cool! Who can doubt modern progress!

Brian:

It is my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) that papal opposition to the death penalty is not doctrinal. Whereas, the Church's opposition to abortion is.

For me, the "culture of death" concerns abortion, euthanasia, suicide and homicide (the last has been glorified by popular culture). The death penalty, on the other hand, is a just consequence of murder.

At any rate, it cannot contradict the principles of Christianity, as it comes directly from the mouth of God:

"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." Genesis 9:6.

Thus, if the judge were thinking along the lines you suggest, he would be in error.

Wow. That judge needs to be put on trial.

I wasn't clear by what I meant about the possible reasoning of the judge Brad. I wasn't making any statement about the justice of the death penalty or capital punishment as a doctrinal issue.

I was wondering on the one hand why capital punishment or some such just punishment (life imprisonment or a very long sentence if she was deemed to be incompetent or have some sort of peculiar circumstances that mitigate the crime) was decided against?

Then I was speculating that since the judge and prosecutor apparently did not believe they could convict her of murder at trial that maybe they offered her this manslaughter deal w/ the attached requirement to have her tubes tied as a *result* of living in a culture of death. Meaning that since she could go on getting pregnant and posssibly aborting babies, or commit infanticide again then they had to take this drastic measure.

I think JPII's councils to be cautious in handing down the death penalty should be taken under serious consideration, certainly prosecutor's, judges, et. al., should always be extremely circumspect in taking a life and be absolutely certain that they can justify it in each particular case. Executing an innocent person is a grave injustice and a consequentialist ethics that justifies it is bankrupt. But you are right that the Church's stance is not that it is inherently unjust in the abstract and so councilling against the death penalty is a matter of prudence not doctrine. Better than Genesis Brad seems to be Christ's acceptance of Pilate's political right to carry out executions as well as St. Paul's defense of such a state prerogative under the tyranny of Nero. I am no theologian though so don't want to put a fine point on any of that.

I am just at a loss for why the judge and prosecutor decided to make a manslaughter offer at all.

Brian - I think there's two ways to look at "the result of living in the culture of death." One - (just as you've said) given such a culture, the judge chose this as the only method to combat it. Two (the other way around) it would never have ocurred to any judge not living in such a culture to even think of such a thing, much less actually order it or reasonably think it the best option.

In other words, he could either be responding to the culture or acting from it; it could be his target or his source. It's probably impossible to say which, or in what percentage of which.

perfect example of the "Elites" and the power they have in this country. With a record like that he is a surefire winner for a supreme court judge position. He will fit right in with those ACLU lackey elites in DC.

Every day in South Africa there are 70 murders, 130 rapes, 27 deaths in road accidents, 35 cars hijacked, 675 housebreakings and 1 190 assaults. The murder rate was 47.4/100 000 in 2002-03, compared with 6/100 000 in the USA and less than 2/100 0000 in Europe.

This case may be illogical, but rather a 5 week old unwanted baby, than a member of society. I doubt this makes any difference, but i do agree that the judge has questionable character. He should be relieved of his post.

The sterilization, I agree with to a certain degree. She obviously didn't want the baby and if she falls pregnant again, the case might repeat itself. Then again, it's still murder. It is debatable. The women should still be charged with death penalty, but my greater concern is the judge.

wow. i will kill somebody in Georgia then run away
Sweet!