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Could all the mistakes in Kennedy be corrected?

By Douglas A. Berman

Linda Greenhouse spotlights in this new article that a key legal mistake in the Kennedy child rape ruling is drawing attention and a notable admission of error:In a highly unusual admission of error, the Justice Department acknowledged on Wednesday that government lawyers should have known that Congress had recently made the rape of a child a capital offense in the military and should have informed the Supreme Court of that fact while the justices were considering whether death was a constitutional punishment for the crime. ?It?s true that the parties to the case missed it, but it?s our responsibility,? the department?s public affairs office said in a statement. ?We regret,? the statement said, ?that the department didn?t catch the 2006 law when the case of Kennedy v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 03, 2008 (boomark / email).