Supreme Court says state can't execute child rapist

[min0 lee]

Supreme Court says state can't execute child rapist - On Deadline - USATODAY.com


The U.S. Supreme Court just ruled that it's unconstitutional for Louisiana to impose the death penalty on prisoners who have been convicted of raping children.
USA TODAY's Joan Biskupic reports that todayâ??????s case marked the first time since 1977 that the justices considered whether the crime of rape could be punished by death.
In the case three decades ago, involving an adult woman, the justices said no.
Currently, five states, including Louisiana, have laws on the books that permit the death penalty for child rape. Several other states, including Missouri, had signaled that if the court allowed the death penalty for child rape, they would try to enact such statutes.
Prosecutors, defense lawyers and social workers nationwide had been closely watching Kennedy v. Louisiana. Read the court's ruling here.
Update at 10:17 a.m. ET: Justice Anthony Kennedy writes in the 5-4 decision that "the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child."

 

[DOMS]

I'll kill him.

 

[ZECH]

If we would have had one less liberal SC judge, this law would have been passed.

 

[busyLivin]

I don't care what a judge thinks is "just".. someone rapes my child, or my niece/nephews, they're dead.

 

[bio-chem]

Justice Anthony Kennedy writes in the 5-4 decision that "the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child."

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion that execution in this case would violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, citing "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" in the United States.


not proportional? evolving standards of decency? 5-4 decision? this is why the way things stand i will not vote for obama

 

[danzik17]

Hey look at it the fun way. Death row would take years and years to get the guy executed. Putting a child rapist in with convicted murderers? I give it three weeks, tops. And he will get beaten to shit several times along the way.

 

[Gazhole]

Hey look at it the fun way. Death row would take years and years to get the guy executed. Putting a child rapist in with convicted murderers? I give it three weeks, tops. And he will get beaten to shit several times along the way.

+1

I hope these people get whats coming to them. I dont think anybody would have a problem turning a blind eye to that sort of stuff in a prison, everybody hates child rapists.

 

[ZECH]

Justice Anthony Kennedy writes in the 5-4 decision that "the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child."

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion that execution in this case would violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, citing "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" in the United States.


not proportional? evolving standards of decency? 5-4 decision? this is why the way things stand i will not vote for obama

That is why it will be important this election. There will probably be several judges appointed during the next presidency.

 

[clemson357]

The S.Ct. decision, signed by four liberals and one quasi-liberal, is a perfect example of how backwards and inherently contradictory liberals in this country have become.

The biggest liberal argument against the death penalty is that it is not a deterrant, the reason being that people don't contemplate punishment while comitting a crime. Yet the liberals on the S.Ct. allege that a death penalty for a child rapist may actually be an incentive to commit murder because once you've raped the child you know that there is no additional punishment if you murder them.

In other words, criminals don't contemplate punishment when commiting their crimes unless it suits a liberal argument for them to do so.

 

[brogers]

Hey look at it the fun way. Death row would take years and years to get the guy executed. Putting a child rapist in with convicted murderers? I give it three weeks, tops. And he will get beaten to shit several times along the way.

This is largely true, but you miss the very sad reality of it.

What does it say about our court system when the inmates serving time in prison have a better sense of justice than the Supreme Court?

 

[brogers]

That is why it will be important this election. There will probably be several judges appointed during the next presidency.

There is a Democrat controlled Senate, so we're screwed either way, sorry to say it.

 

[min0 lee]

It's about they do something other than count the money..

FOXNews.com - Outraged, Politicians Vow to Execute Child Rapists Despite Court Ruling - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News




Outraged, Politicians Vow to Execute Child Rapists Despite Court Ruling



Angry politicians vowed to keep writing laws that condemn child rapists to death, despite a Supreme Court decision saying such punishment is unconstitutional.

"Anybody in the country who cares about children should be outraged that we have a Supreme Court that would issue a decision like this," said Alabama Attorney General Troy King, a Republican. The justices, he said, are "creating a situation where the country is a less safe place to grow up."

The court's 5-4 decision Wednesday derailed the efforts of nearly a dozen states supporting the right to kill those convicted of raping a child â?????? and said execution was confined to attacks that take a life and to other crimes including treason and espionage.

At issue before the high court was a Louisiana case involving Patrick Kennedy, sentenced to die for raping his 8-year-old daughter in her bed, an assault so severe she required surgery.
In his majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote "the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child," despite the horrendous nature of the crime.

Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called the ruling "incredibly absurd," "a clear abuse of judicial authority" and said officials will "evaluate ways to amend our statute to maintain death as a penalty for this horrific crime."

Oklahoma officials said they, too, weren't ready to give up, and would "certainly look at what options we have," state senator Jay Paul Gumm said. "I think the people of Oklahoma have spoken loudly that this is one of the most heinous of crimes."

Even White House hopefuls joined the fray. Republican John McCain called the ruling "an assault on law enforcement's efforts to punish these heinous felons for the most despicable crime." Democrat Barack Obama said there should be no blanket prohibition of the death penalty for the rape of children if states want to apply it in those cases.

Forty-four states prohibit the death penalty for any kind of rape, and at least four states besides Louisiana permit it for child rape â?????? Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. There's disagreement over the status of a Georgia law permitting execution for child rape, although Justice Kennedy said in his ruling that it was still in effect.

Following the ruling, all become unconstitutional.
In Texas, Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Wednesday that most Texans believe the death penalty is "an appropriate form of punishment for repeat child molesters. Our top priority remains protecting our most precious resource â?????? our children."

But the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, a nonprofit victim advocacy group representing 80 rape crisis centers, applauded the ruling.
"Most child sexual abuse victims are abused by a family member or close family friend," the group said in a statement. "The reality is that child victims and their families don't want to be responsible for sending a grandparent, cousin or long time family friend to death row."


Nationwide, only two men have been sentenced to death for sexually abusing children â?????? both in Louisiana. The second case involves a man convicted of repeatedly raping a 5-year-old girl. Both men will get new sentences.
Several states, including Missouri, Alabama and Colorado had been considering similar laws.

In South Carolina, Republican Attorney General Henry McMaster said states could ultimately fight Wednesday's ruling by waiting for a change in the makeup of the Supreme Court, or by getting legislatures to redo death penalty laws.
Legal experts were divided on the potential success of such tactics.
According to Douglas Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University, the justices' ruling appears ironclad. "In the absence of death, the death penalty is off the table," he said. The court, he said, "could have left open the possibility of revamping child rape laws, by age for example, but it did not."
Law professor Deborah Denno of Fordham University wasn't so sure. It could be possible to argue for the application of the death penalty against attackers who "intended to kill" their victims, but didn't, she said. Or those who assault especially young children, such as toddlers

 

[min0 lee]

But the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, a nonprofit victim advocacy group representing 80 rape crisis centers, applauded the ruling.
"Most child sexual abuse victims are abused by a family member or close family friend," the group said in a statement. "The reality is that child victims and their families don't want to be responsible for sending a grandparent, cousin or long time family friend to death row."

Don't care who it is in my family that abuses my kid, I'll knock them out. Yes, mommy dearest...you too!

 

[clemson357]

But the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, a nonprofit victim advocacy group representing 80 rape crisis centers, applauded the ruling.
"Most child sexual abuse victims are abused by a family member or close family friend," the group said in a statement. "The reality is that child victims and their families don't want to be responsible for sending a grandparent, cousin or long time family friend to death row."

It is pretty disgusting when an organization that is supposed to prevent rape argues in favor of lesser penalties for rapists.

 

[min0 lee]

It is pretty disgusting when an organization that is supposed to prevent rape argues in favor of lesser penalties for rapists.

I don't understand this at all.