U.S. Supreme Court Says No Death
Penalty for the Rape of a Child
In June of this year, the U.S.
Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Louisiana ruled that the death
penalty is unconstitutional as a punishment
for the rape of a child.
It was a 5-4 decision
that overruled death penalty laws in Louisiana
and five other states (Georgia, Montana,
Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas).
The
two men who have been sentenced to death
for child rape will receive new, life without
parole sentences.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
stated that there was "A distinction
between intentional first-degree murder on
the one hand and nonhomicide crimes against
individual persons," even "devastating crimes
like the rape of a child..." He also stated
that death penalty for child rape did not
meet the "evolving standards of decency,"
a key factor in the court judges death penalty
cases.
This case should
put to rest recent attempts by some Colorado
legislators to add certain sexual assault
on children crimes to those eligible for
the death penalty.
