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Ineffective assistance (by prosecutors) in Kennedy child rape case?

By Douglas A. Berman

Linda Greenhouse has this fascinating follow-up to the Supreme Court's ruling in the Kennedy case declaring unconstitutional state efforts to make child rape a capital crime.  The article is headlined "In Court Ruling on Executions, a Factual Flaw," and here is how the article starts:When the Supreme Court ruled last week that the death penalty for raping a child was unconstitutional, the majority noted that a child rapist could face the ultimate penalty in only six states ? not in any of the 30 other states that have the death penalty, and not under the jurisdiction of the federal government either. This inventory of jurisdictions was a central part of the court?s analysis, the foundation for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy?s conclusion in his majority opinion that capital punishment for child rape was contrary to the ?evolving standards of decency? by which the court judges how the death penalty is applied...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 02, 2008 (boomark / email).