Treat Murder, Rape and Armed Robbery Like Ultimate Crimes They Are

I live in a 'red', meaning a Republican-led state. Presumably that means murderers, rapists and armed robbers aren't running around it like ambassadors enjoying diplomatic immunity.

Not quite.

Despite its 'tough on crime' conservative supermajority in the state legislature for some time period, it's only been this last election cycle that delivered key state chief executive positions, governor and attorney-general, to the Louisiana GOP.

While they rapidly passed a slate of new laws less lenient on violent traitors within our community, I still don't think conservatives go far enough.

Please consider:

Murder should be a mandatory death penalty offense. Frankly, rape should be too, but no less than life should be acceptable.

To their eternal credit, Louisiana legislators from a more empowering ideology on safety made chemical castration the punishment for child molestation.

Whether this includes soccer mom school teachers convicted of being intimate with middle.and high school students remains to be seen.

Armed robbery and its viral version called carjacking should be life or no less than 30 year offenses. I'm at a loss why 'law and order' conservatives want anyone pursuing careers violently robbing people?

I know they'd say that's not their intention but not removing street pirates from circulation for the majority of their lives unnecessarily places other lives in danger.

Incidentally, this isn't a conservative bashing session. It's an opportunity for me to share legislative recommendations further to the right than where Republicans here and nationally often find themselves.

Suburban reasoning, that five or ten years deprived of freedom will teach violent traitors a lesson overlook one salient fact: as long as there's strength in their bodies.and an ounce of youthful vitality, they will return to preying on the community.

A decade in prison might make a suburbanite mend his ways, but not many defendants coming from chaotic cities.

They don't usually slow down until they are literally slowed down with age in their fifties and older.

Take it from me as an urban, not suburban, safety creator. Most Gen Xers with histories of violent treason have aged out of it.

Exceptions include unreformed threats who are dangerous at any age and those whose mental health and substance abuse issues provoke violence even in later years.

Republicans, as the more empowering regarding safety of the two major parties, still think it's too expensive or extreme to remove people for many decades or life in prison. They've listened to silver-tongued libertarians and right wing penny pinchers and caved to loud demands of prison abolitionist l leftists after rioting.

I caution that far greater cost comes when urban bones are picked clean (stabilizing residents and businesses move out) and suburban and rural areas become targets of viral violence--a trend already well underway.

That's why I urge treating murder, rape and armed robbery like the ultimate crimes they are instead of allowing 'careers' of avoidable harm to continue.