Court meeting to weigh death penalty for child rapists

[Psycho4Bud]

WASHINGTON (AP) â?? The Supreme Court is considering whether someone may be executed for raping a child, a case that balances concerns about the death penalty with tougher sanctions for child sex crimes.

Only two people, both in Louisiana, are on death row in the United States for raping a child without also killing their victim.

The justices were to hear arguments Wednesday about whether the Constitution allows executions for rapes that do not also involve murder.

Separately, the court also was expected to issue opinions in unrelated cases.

The lawyers for one inmate, Patrick Kennedy, say the death penalty for child rape violates the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

Kennedy, 43, was convicted of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter at their home in the New Orleans suburb of Harvey in 1998.

No one has been executed for anything other than murder in 44 years. In 1977, the court ruled out executions for rapists whose victims are adults.

It left open the issue of whether raping a child could lead to death.

Executions are on hold across the United States while the court considers the constitutionality of the way states use lethal injections to put prisoners to death.

Besides Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas also allow executions of someone convicted of child rape, although the latter four states never have applied the death penalty to child rapists. Missouri, led by Gov. Matt Blunt, is considering a similar law.

Those states say there is a trend toward toughening penalties for people who victimize children and contend that death is an appropriate punishment for so horrific a crime as the rape of a child.

Kennedy's lawyers say more states have rejected the death penalty for child rapists and that the reasoning of the court's 1977 decision â?? that death is an excessive penalty for a rapist who does not also kill â?? should apply even when the victim is a child.

Groups that work to prevent sexual violence also have sided with Kennedy. They say victims often know their attacker â?? a relative or family friend â?? and that more rapes will go unreported if children have to worry that their words might lead to an execution.

The other inmate, Richard Davis, was sentenced to death in the Shreveport area in December. He has just begun appealing his conviction and sentence.

The case is Kennedy v. Louisiana, 07-343.
The Associated Press: Court meeting to weigh death penalty for child rapists

I have NO sympathy for child molestors.....hang em' high!!

Have a good one!:s4:

Psycho4Bud Reviewed by Psycho4Bud on 04-16-2008. Court meeting to weigh death penalty for child rapists WASHINGTON (AP) â?? The Supreme Court is considering whether someone may be executed for raping a child, a case that balances concerns about the death penalty with tougher sanctions for child sex crimes. Only two people, both in Louisiana, are on death row in the United States for raping a child without also killing their victim. The justices were to hear arguments Wednesday about whether the Constitution allows executions for rapes that do not also involve murder. Separately, the Rating: 5

[epxroot]

Hey!! Here is something you and I can agree on! :thumbsup:

[Psycho4Bud]

LMAO!!! It had to happen some day, year, decade huh? I've got NO time or patience for these sort of people. Hell, these days you get a lighter sentence for grabbing some childs ass than ya do for selling and ounce of weed!

Have a good one!:s4:

[rebgirl420]

I am so fucking behind this! I believe the act of raping ANYONE should have the penalty of death. And not this pussy needle in your arm, I'm talking some violent shit.

And I would be honored to be the one that gets to do it. These people are scum.

[THClord]

And not this pussy needle in your arm, I'm talking some violent shit.

If I had to be killed for something, I'd so go with a violent death rather than needle. The needle is the worst punishment, because you don't even die like a man.

[pinkyslayer]

Dude, I honestly have to say when I saw the topic for this thread, I was completely expecting you (whoever posted it) to say they were against the death penalty. I am genuinely glad I didn't find a bunch of pussy bleeding hearts who think that the death penalty is cruel. Does anyone else find it in fascinating while watching shows like Lockup on MSNBC that even in prisons filled with violent criminals, in literally every prison in America they have to isolate the people who fuck with kids from the other criminals because they'll get fucking beat to death? I think that is the shit. The death penalty is the fucking tits...

[rebgirl420]

Dude, I honestly have to say when I saw the topic for this thread, I was completely expecting you (whoever posted it) to say they were against the death penalty. I am genuinely glad I didn't find a bunch of pussy bleeding hearts who think that the death penalty is cruel. Does anyone else find it in fascinating while watching shows like Lockup on MSNBC that even in prisons filled with violent criminals, in literally every prison in America they have to isolate the people who fuck with kids from the other criminals because they'll get fucking beat to death? I think that is the shit. The death penalty is the fucking tits...

Hahahahahaha this guy is fucking brilliant. :thumbsup:

[Reefer Rogue]

Kill all peodos, nuff said.

[killerweed420]

I'm a big advocate of the death penalty but I think this maybe going a bit too far. If you're going to use the death penalty you better make sure they are 100% guilty. And as we have seen numerous times innocent people have been put to death or have been on death row for years. I personally feel the death penalty should be broadened to cover people that killed someone in a car accident while talking on the cellphone. I do not believe in killing people that have not killed someone else. Pedophiles should be given 1 chance to get there shit together with a lifetime commitment to some sort of physcological counselling. If they screw that up then they should never be released again.

[Breukelen advocaat]

I'm a big advocate of the death penalty but I think this maybe going a bit too far. If you're going to use the death penalty you better make sure they are 100% guilty. And as we have seen numerous times innocent people have been put to death or have been on death row for years......

"And as we have seen numerous times innocent people have been put to death"

What are your sources for this? There's been cases of people being released from death row and exonerated, but there is not a single case of anybody that was legally executed and later officially proven innocent in court.