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Oklahoma legislature moving forward with capital child rape bill

By Douglas A. Berman

As detailed in this article in Tulsa World, an Oklahoma Senate panel "on Wednesday passed a measure calling for the death penalty for certain sex offenders despite concerns that the legislation runs afoul of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling." Here's more: House Bill 2965 would allow for the death penalty for someone convicted of raping a child age 6 or younger if the perpetrator had been convicted of a felony previously for which the punishment included a term of 10 years or more in prison. The measure would not apply to a parent, guardian or someone who has custody of a child. Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, the measure's House sponsor, said that in child-custody cases, all sorts of things can be alleged.  The exclusion was designed to prevent people involved in custody cases from facing the death penalty based on possibly false accusations...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 18, 2010 (boomark / email).