AUGUSTA, Maine - Windham Democratic Sen. Bill Diamond, a long-time crusader against sex offenders, is proposing that Maine reinstate the death penalty, but only for a very narrow category of defendants: those convicted of murder in conjunction with a sex crime against a child.
The issue is expected to generate controversy, as it has during previous attempts to bring it back.
Bill Diamond has a long history of introducing and supporting legislation to bolster investigation and prosecution of sex crimes. He says he would like to see Maine piggy-back on the current federal death penalty for a murder committed as part of the production of child pornography. But if that does not work, he will propose a state death penalty for those narrow circumstances.
"I believe that if some child in Maine is killed because, or as result, of child pornography production, that we be able to have that death penalty as an option," Diamond says.
Diamond acknowledges he has opposed the death penalty in the past, in part because of the cost of setting up a facility to carry out a death sentence, and also because of concerns about wrongful convictions. But Diamond says his proposal would be written to pass constitutional muster, and is aimed at deterring a most heinous crime.
"To see the eyes of these little kids while they are being abused, it just tears your heart out," he says. "And when this happens, and they start, whether intentionally, which is the snuff films when the child is killed as part of the production, or it is an accident, it wasn’t intentional but the child dies, then I think the death penalty should be considered."
Maine has not had a death penalty for any crime since the 1880’s, and that is for several good reasons, says Maine Attorney General Janet Mills. She says it is very hard to draft legislation that meets constitutional standards, and even if that is accomplished, appeals in state and federal courts will go on for a very long time at very a high cost.
She says in Maine a life sentence means a life sentence, unlike some other states. "They are behind bars forever," she says. "If you read Dostoyevsky you’ll understand that sometimes is a worse punishment than death."
Mills says sex offenders in general, and child sex offenders in particular, are not treated well by fellow inmates in any correctional facility. "If the crime involves a child, or sexual circumstances, I can tell you anecdotally from prison, the corrections community, that life sentence can be a very hard life sentence."
Zach Heiden, the legal director at the American Civil Liberties of Maine, says the death penalty just does not work as a deterrent to any crime. He says a survey of police chiefs backs up that contention. Heiden says the history of implementation of the death penalty in other states has been troubling.
"Decisions about who lives and who dies in capital cases are largely dependent on how much money the defendant has, the skill of their attorneys, the race of the victim and where the crime took place," Heiden says, "not on how terrible the crime was or how worthy of punishment the defendant is."
Diamond’s bill has yet to be finalized and printed. Once that is done it will be referred to either the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee or the Judiciary Committee for a public hearing. Only then will the issue go to the full Legislature for its consideration.
Previous attempts to restore capital punishment have been rejected by Maine lawmakers.
