Legislative Review: Should Raping a Child Become a Capital Offense?

Author: Sarah Riordan

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a member of the most powerful court in the nation?  Can you imagine having to make decisions that change an entire population’s lives forever?  Though everyone probably has a desire to hold such power, it can’t be easy.  In fact, it must be incomprehensibly difficult to interpret an intentionally vague constitution.

That’s why, on occasion, it’s not a bad idea to cut the Supreme Court a break.  Granted they have the power to make millions of people mad in one sweeping decision, but all things considered, their jobs can’t be easy. 

Now, without a doubt the Supreme Court has made some questionable decisions, and truthfully Republican Senator David Vitter of Louisiana has reason to question the decision they made in 2008 when they overturned the ruling of the Louisiana Supreme Court in the case Kennedy vs. Louisiana.  As a result of the case, Vitter is sponsoring S.RES.4, which asks the Supreme Court to allow the death penalty for similar cases in the future.

Kennedy vs. Louisiana is a tragic case to say the least.  Patrick Kennedy was a 43 year-old man, who one morning decided to rape his 8 year-old stepdaughter.  As a result of the unusually brutal rape, the girl bled internally and rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery.  The stepfather claimed that the girl had been raped by some teenage boys the neighborhood of their Louisiana home.  After an investigation into the crime however, the evidence was irrefutable; the stepfather had in fact raped the young girl. 

Without getting into too much detail, according to the court documents, the rape of the girl was so unusually brutal, that the damage done was permanent.  In addition to the already perverse nature of the rape, during the trial it came out that Kennedy had raped before.  The first time, it was his 8 year-old goddaughter.

The court sentenced Kennedy to death by lethal injection.  Kennedy appealed, and the Louisiana Supreme Court heard the case, but supported the original sentence.  Thus, Kennedy appealed federally, and the U.S. Supreme Court took over.  

In a vote of 5-4, the Supreme Court overturned the case, stating that because only six states list childhood rape as a capital punishment because it does not include the taking of another person’s life. Thus they said it went against the 8^th Amendment which prohibits the use of cruel and unusual punishment.  The majority included Justice Kennedy, Justice Stevens, Justice Souter, Justice Ginsberg, and Justice Breyer.

The dissent included Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Thomas, Justice Scalia, and Justice Alito. The dissent stated that prohibiting the death penalty in Kennedy’s case went against society’s standards of decency, and by no means went against the 8^th Amendment. 

The amendment in question is like most other amendments; it’s vague. The exact wording is as follows:

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Naturally, Senator Vitter agreed with the dissent, and felt the U.S. Supreme Court should have respected the Louisiana Supreme Court’s decision.  It’s a tough case, and forming a strong opinion couldn’t have been easy. 

Given the vague language of the 8^th Amendment, and the gruesome nature of the crime, Vitter’s jab at the Supreme Court is understandable.   Kennedy raped two eight-year old girls, causing them both permanent mental and physical damage.  Considering the cruel and unusual crime, in my opinion, the death penalty would have been cruel and unusual by no means.

So, what do you think?  Was the Supreme Court’s Decision Correct? Did Kennedy Deserve the Death Penalty? Post your comments and let us know.