Legal Research

The Supreme Court, in a five-to-four decision, ruled today that administering the death penalty in the case of child rape violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.  Justice Kennedy wrote the decision striking down a Louisiana law which allowed the execution of anyone convicted of raping a child.  The decision is seen as a clear signal that the Court will find laws allowing execution when no death has resulted from the crime to be disproportionate.  For 44 years, there has not been an execution in the United States for a crime that did not also involve the death of the victim.  It's an interesting reflection of evolving social standards to consider that under English common law, rape, robbery, arson, burglary, and larceny were all capital crimes.