LIFE!
U.S. SUPREME COURT HOLDS
DEATH FOR CHILD RAPE IS
UNCONSTITUTIONAL
The Court holds that the Death Penalty will not apply to Kennedy or other child rapists. The decision was a 5 to 4 split. Details forthcoming as the ruling was released this morning. Dissent by Alito, joined by Scalia, Roberts, Thomas. 6/ 25/ 08
The majority rejects Louisiana's rational on 'evolving standards' and finds instead that the overwhelming trend is away from a Death Penalty for non-homicide. The Court notes that is not dispositive either, in light of precedent, and states that the Louisiana Court erred in finding that trend anyway:
The majority also rejects the State's claim that Coker was given broader import than intended, and holds that Coker was not limited to adult victims. The fact is, the Death Penalty has not grown in use and more importantly in breadth of use, and this ruling affirms that. Further, the Court notes with concern that the expansion contemplated by Louisiana would potentially result in a huge surge of death sentences, uneven application of the Death Penalty and inconsistency. (Much like the Coker finding of racial bias)
The predictable Dissent by Alito, joined by the other members of the "conservative" wing, would have apparently allowed the States to impose death for whatever the States wish:
KUDOS TO CAP, Director Jelpi Picou, LAPDA and LACDL as Amicus, and thanks to Julie Kilburn, who with Paul Baier at LSU Law did the heavy lifting on the LaPDA / LACDL Amicus brief.
Full opinion at: SCOTUS WEB