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Tough on Crime: Bringing The Guillotine Back To Indiana
SOUTH BEND -- Republican 2nd District congressional candidate Tony Zirkle has proposed a four-stage approach to stopping sex- related crimes such as child pornography, rape, sexual slavery and human trafficking.Stage 4 contemplates the reintroduction of the guillotine and lynch mob into the criminal justice process, although Zirkle said in an interview that he is taking that position "to stimulate debate." He also said he is in favor of the death penalty. "If I am elected to Congress, I will introduce a declaration of war against human traffickers, porn-pimps and child rapists," Zirkle said in a campaign release. "We must put fear back into the criminals who are preying on our children." The first stage of the battle, as proposed by Zirkle, calls for suspension of the constitutional protections of property rights for "porn-pimps." "Every adultery (sic) book store will be immediately seized and the property will be forfeited to the taxpayers without any process of law other than a hearing within 10 days of seizure to give the porn-pimps the opportunity (to) challenge the sufficiency of prostitution evidence." Stage 2, Zirkle said, would involve "actual arrests" for those who did not learn from Stage 1. Stage 3, if necessary, calls for "super speedy public trials with severe punishment that is swiftly carried out after a rapid appeal." Which leads to Stage 4. "If this stage is necessary, then I am willing to debate the idea of returning the guillotine and lynch mob for those who prey on children under the age of 12; however, no capital punishment will be extended without at least four witnesses." Zirkle said he favors the death penalty but believes current law offers insufficient due process protections. "One witness can send you to death now," he said. According to Zirkle, debate could fuel discussion of his guillotine proposal but, so far, "no one will debate me." Zirkle sought without success to debate Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Chris Chocola during the 2004 primary election, and he has actively been seeking a debate opponent during the current election. There does not appear to be much chance of Zirkle debating any of the current crop of congressional candidates. Chocola, through campaign spokesman Brooks Kochvar, declined to respond to Zirkle's statements. Steve Francis, candidate for the 2nd District Democratic congressional nomination, said he would debate Zirkle after the primary, "when he wins it and I win and we face off for the general election." Until the primary race is over, Francis said, it would not be appropriate for him to debate the candidate from the other party. Joe Donnelly, the other Democratic contender, said that at this stage, Zirkle should be debating Chocola. "I would be happy to debate Mr. Zirkle after he wins the Republican primary," Donnelly said. During the interview, Zirkle equated human trafficking with "modern-day slavery" and said he believes Congress needs to take action against this growing world problem. The Republican candidate, who served as a deputy under former county Prosecutor Chris Toth, said he has derived his proposals from his personal experience "that judges and liberal prosecutors have failed us." Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-03-17 |
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