Senator Hamilton Secures Passage of Legislation to Ensure Death Penalty Option for Child Rapists
OKLAHOMA CITY(March 27th) - Senator Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, today successfully passed legislation off the Senate Floor (SB 599) to ensure the death penalty is a prosecutorial option for criminals convicted of child sex abuse after a first offense.
“There should be no second chances for an individual so depraved to rape a child,” Senator Hamilton said. “The state of Oklahoma has collectively made the decision through ballot initiatives or legislation to make it easier for individuals to get second chances, and I agree in part that some people deserve a second chance for making a mistake. But we should all draw a hard line when it comes to raping a child. For individuals who commit these types of horrific acts - there is no form of effective rehabilitation, and there is no amount of therapy or programming to make them better or make up for this crime. That is why the death penalty and life without parole are the only punishments allowed by law that are appropriate for these predators.
“When we tuck our children into bed at night, we try to convince them monsters don’t exist. We try our best to shield them from the evils, and horrors of the world. But unfortunately, monsters do exist. Child rapists are those monsters, and they should be dealt with accordingly.
