Public Defense

Lege ponders bill to ignore Fed?l Constitution

By Gideon

Alternate title: CT legislature considers bill seceding from these United States of America.

State Republican Senator Dan Debicella apparently hasn’t heard of the Federal constitution, or doesn’t care that it exists. That can be the only logical explanation for his sponsorship of this bill, which effectively overrules Kennedy v. Louisiana.

The proposed bill would make a sexual assault, under section 53a-70, 53a-70a or 53a-71 of the general statutes, of a child under thirteen years punishable by death.

Now, for those of you with extremely short memories *cough*Debicella*cough*, Kennedy held that:

“[t]he Eighth Amendment bars Louisiana from imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child where the crime did not result, and was not intended to result, in the victim’s death.

According to the Court, “[t]he death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child.” The opinion, which was joined by the court’s four more liberal judges, went on to state, “The court concludes that there is a distinction between intentional first-degree murder, on the one hand, and non-homicide crimes against individuals, even including child rape, on the other. The latter crimes may be devastating in their harm, as here, but in terms of moral depravity and of the injury to the person and to the public, they cannot compare to murder in their severity and irrevocability.” The opinion concluded that in cases of crimes against individuals, “the death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim’s life was not taken.”

Now that seems pretty cut and dry, unless of course, there is some argument that the Federal Constitution applies to Louisiana but not Connecticut, because Connecticut was never a part of the United States due to some error back in the day and hence is its own duchy.

Either that, or Debicella got some bad advice. Thankfully, the rest of the legislators in the judiciary committee seem to have heard of Kennedy, since there’s been no action on the bill since it’s proposal in January.

For more on Kennedy, see Sex Crimes’ resource page.

Full post as published by A Public Defender on March 30, 2009 (boomark / email).