SCOTUS: High court weighs death in child rape case

[Breeze54]

High court weighs death in child rape case

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/04/14/high_court_weighs_death_in_child_rape_case/4260/

Published: April 14, 2008 at 8:07 AM

WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) --

A Louisiana case favoring the death penalty for child rapists weighs social perceptions of capital punishment against evolving notions of crime, lawyers say.

The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday will hear the case of Kennedy vs. Louisiana, in which a 43-year-old man raped his 8-year-old stepdaughter so brutally she required surgery. Louisiana imposed the death penalty in the case, but the man's lawyers say that violates the Eighth Amendment ban on "cruel and unusual punishment" for crimes that did not result in death. Louisiana counters the Supreme Court decision barring death penalty for rape cases, Coker vs. Georgia, does not apply to minors.

Louisiana prosecutors will argue the evolution of societal morality that moved the courts to favor life sentences for the mentally impaired gives the opposite conclusion when it comes to child rapists, The Washington Post said Monday.

Some child advocacy groups say a death penalty for child rapists would result in less reporting of the crime, as most child molestations occur in the family or among close acquaintances. Supporters of the death penalty in these cases say society demands justice for its most vulnerable.

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Louisiana, it would put the United States in the slim minority of nations that consider the death penalty for crimes not resulting in death, the Post said.

[bluestateguy]

1. We need to be careful here

This could all too easily result in a death penalty for some 18 year old kid who has sex with his 17 year old girlfriend.

[Breeze54]

2. I don't agree with the death penalty and I agree with you that this

will be opening a huge can of worms and it seems to me that child rapists are already 'marked for death'
when they go to prison anyway. Not saying murder or vigilantism is OK but that's a fact. I don't think
the death penalty would be a deterrent for child psycho rapists anyway.