Democratic state Sen. Bill Diamond of Windham has submitted a new bill that would allow Maine judges to sentence to death individuals who kill children during sexual assaults.According to Maine ACLU legal director Zachary Heiden, an opponent of the bill, Diamond’s proposal represents the fourth legislative attempt to re-instate the death penalty in Maine during the past decade. Maine abolished the death penalty in 1887.

According to Diamond, the bill – unlike other recent death penalty bills in Maine – will only apply to a specific type of criminal. Diamond, the author of “The Evil and the Innocent,” a 2012 book about child sex exploitation, said his goal is to target people who kill children under the age of 14 in the process of filming child pornography.

“I’m not really someone who has been supportive of the death penalty in Maine, but I think there are those rare circumstances when someone sexually assaults a child and it’s recorded and they kill that child,” Diamond said. “I think that is probably such an egregious category that we need to have something unusual. This is something unusual.”

The bill, which has not yet been drafted, would align Maine and federal law, which allows for the death penalty for this type of criminal activity, Diamond said. The bill would allow a Maine judge to either sentence the convicted criminal to long jail sentences, or to impose the death penalty. Diamond said the bill would not call for the construction of a lethal injection facility in Maine, but would rather have criminals sent to out-of-state facilities.

Diamond said he is not aware of any instances of this type of crime ever occurring in Maine.

The Maine ACLU strongly opposes Diamond’s bill, said Heiden.

“Maine repealed the death penalty more than 100 years ago and most Mainers think that was a good decision,” Heiden said. “We are opposed to the death penalty categorically because it is always unjust and unfair. Beyond that, we believe it’s unconstitutional. There’s a lot of opportunity for improving Maine’s criminal justice system, but the best way to do that isn’t by imitating Louisiana and Texas.”

Diamond said he accepts that many innocent people have been sentenced to death in states where the death penalty is allowed. The type of crime targeted by the bill is typically caught on film, Diamond said, making it less likely that innocents would be put to death.

“Don’t forget these are all recorded,” Diamond said. “That’s good evidence.”

Heiden also said it is incorrect to assume that the class of criminals targeted by Diamond’s bill are rational.

“Clearly, the death penalty is not a good deterrent,” Heiden said. “We need to invest more in teachers and social workers who help keep kids safe rather than spending all of our energy thinking about punishing people after kids have already been harmed. People who commit these crimes are not deterred by the threat of serious consequences. They don’t approach these crimes rationally.”

But to Diamond, the death penalty is an effective deterrent.

“Of course they’re irrational, but that’s not an excuse,” he said. “I want Maine to make a statement that says we’re not going to allow that, there are going to be consequences. I think it’s a deterrent because somebody would rather be alive than dead.”

Although Diamond expects his bill to face “an uphill battle” in the Legislature, he thinks the fight is worth it.

“I’m trying to pass the bill, but in that process we are going to be able to bring to the forefront and make the public more aware of how heinous this whole process is of child sexual assault via imaging and videos,” he said.

Furthermore, Diamond said, he is receiving a lot of positive feedback from Lakes Region residents.

“Back home there’s just a lot of people who support the idea,” he said. “The feedback I’m getting is extremely high in favor of it.”

Bill Diamond