Court Rejects Death Penalty For Raping Children - Video Review
“Im sure many pedophiles today are thanking justice Kennedy.” (LBA)
Me: Okay … ‘Punishment to fit the crime’ … Send the sons of bitches to prison and line up every swinging dick in the prison everyday and let them have at the bastards …
And so … the devaluing of this nation’s greatest resource and treasure continues …
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Wednesday outlawed executions of people convicted of raping a child.
In a 5-4 vote, the court said the Louisiana law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in such cases violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
“The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. His four liberal colleagues joined him, while the four more conservative justices dissented.
There has not been an execution in the United States for a crime that did not also involve the death of the victim in 44 years.
Patrick Kennedy, 43, was sentenced to death for the rape of his 8-year-old stepdaughter in Louisiana. He is one of two people in the United States, both in Louisiana, who have been condemned to death for a rape that was not also accompanied by a killing.
The Supreme Court banned executions for rape in 1977 in a case in which the victim was an adult woman.
Forty-five states ban the death penalty for any kind of rape, and the other five states allow it for child rapists. Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas allow executions in such cases if the defendant had previously been convicted of raping a child.
The court struggled over how to apply standards laid out in decisions barring executions for the mentally retarded and people younger than 18 when they committed murder. In those cases, the court cited trends in the states away from capital punishment.
In this case, proponents of the Louisiana law said the trend was toward the death penalty, a point mentioned by Justice Samuel Alito in his dissent.
“The harm that is caused to the victims and to society at large by the worst child rapists is grave,” Alito wrote. “It is the judgment of the Louisiana lawmakers and those in an increasing number of other states that these harms justify the death penalty.”
But Kennedy said the absence of any executions for rape and the small number of states that allow it demonstrate “there is a national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape.”
Kennedy also acknowledged that the decision had to come to terms with “the years of long anguish that must be endured by the victim of child rape.”
Still, Kennedy concluded that in cases of crimes against individuals — as opposed to treason, for example — “the death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim’s life was not taken.”
The decision does not affect the imposition of the death penalty for other crimes that do not involve murder, including treason and espionage, he said.
(AP)
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Wrong again, SCOTUS.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:09 amDAMMIT!
hi-fi URL: http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6471178&q=hi
June 25th, 2008 at 7:22 amAnother stupid fucking decision by the Supreme Court.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:24 amLeave it to the left to stand up and defend the indefensible.
Child rapists should be put to death plain and simple. The reasons being:
First, recidivism rate. These people are not a reformable lot so let’s not try.
Second, protecting the innocent. Why risk having any of these creatures alive to do this to another child.
Third, discouraging would be offenders. A child molester/rapist might think twice if their life was on the line.
Fourth, with the knowledge that the rapist would no longer be in this world it might help encourage victims to speak up and drop the dime on the offenders. After all, the dead can not come back to hurt the living.
“Supreme Court”…. Ha!! From what I have seen of late with their decisions, only 4 could possibly be described as supreme.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:30 amI bet the Second Amendment case they are waiting on will not appear before the court before the election.
However if does get argued, and goes 5-4 against like this case, I can’t wait to see how the general public responds.
I know what the general consensus is at this site, but America at large is going to be interesting to see. Take away the Second then the rest are worthless.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:35 amThe Second Amendment case decision is supposed to come down sometime this week.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:53 am…and God help us if they get it wrong.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:00 amI think if it goes 5-4 against there are going to be a lot of members of Congress, House and Senate, that are going to crapping their pants, because the average “Joe Six-Pack” god love him, will “cling on to their guns, and religion” much to the shagrin of elitist like the Obamessiah.
Will be interesting to watch either way.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:06 amOh, yeah, and does the S. Ct. now take polls to decide cases? “There’s a national consensus against death penalty for child rape?” Really, if I didn’t know better, and maybe I don’t, I’d say our country is now rapidly sliding down the slippery slope to has-been status. First, the Boumidienne decision, then California S. Ct. changing the definition of marriage, then the Dem enemy-abbetor “leaders” and media types publicly making traitorous comments as if they are accepted polite opinion. Please!
June 25th, 2008 at 8:15 amOne argument against having the death penalty for raping a child. What would stop the rapist from killing the child after the raping when the penalty is the same? Would you rather have a child that was left alive after the rape with the hope of recovering from the trauma, or a dead child?
June 25th, 2008 at 8:33 amFUCK THE LAW OF THE LAND AND MAKE UP YOUR OWN JUSTICE, THAT’S WHAT IT SEEMS TO COME DOWN TOO ANYMORE
June 25th, 2008 at 8:37 amAny “person” that rapes a child doesn’t consider anything, like what penalty there is. The “person”, who really isn’t a person but actually has less nobility than a dog, dserves to be disposed of immediately. Kennedy is getting old, going anti-death penalty, worried about what the Europeans will think: executing child rapists isn’t sophisticated enough for his cocktail parties with liberal friends.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:41 amForgive me, I do not remember the name of the poor child in florida that was abused by some old pedophile, and buried alive. I remember he was a convicted child rapist, and had her hidden in the mobile home or camper that he was staying in when the police were searching for her, that she was alive at that point. They caught the bastard, obviously, but the girl is dead. She cannot be brought back, God rest her sould, and releive the pain and anguish of her family.
Anyway, if that sick bastard had been taken out of the picture, that little girl would still be alive.
All this ruling does is tell the pedophiles that they have no fear, they can do the crime, IF they get caught, after eyars of trial they may have to do a couple years, and as long as they do not kill the victim, they will get out sooner or later.
I agree with the earlier statement, if the death penalty was on the table in every case, it would be a deterrant.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:42 am
marc and molly, i seriously think that if the outcome of the supreme court rules against the 2nd amendment, us Americans will do nothing, just like in britian. it’s scary to think that but, i just feel that a large, large majority of the people have either given up or just don’t care as long as they get home to watch “FAMILY GUY” or what ever. dammit i sound like a pessimistic piece of shit right now. sorry everyone!!! it’ll turn around
June 25th, 2008 at 8:43 amI think Justice Kennedy means there is a national consensus of libtards who are against the death penalty for child rapists.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:46 amThe five justices in the majority, you have failed to protect the most innocent of society. I hate to inform the justices and the politians that their powers are granted by the people (including me) and, I for one, take what they say only as a suggestion. I have the God given right to make my own choices even if they are against the government’s laws. My faith says I should not kill but if I was in the situation where one of my daughters were the victim of rape, as a child or not, I cannot guarantee that I would not impose my own death sentence on the rapist. I would find a way and then I would surrender. I would serve my own sentence satisfied that I carried out my choice to disregard the laws of the land but justice, as I interpret it, has been served.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:48 amWell I guess if someone rapes one of my kids I’ll have to do the job myself then.
Child rapists do not deserve to continue breathing. 
June 25th, 2008 at 8:49 amI am scared we are going to get shafted.
First the gitmo thing, and while I concur something needed to be done what they did wasnt it. Then this nonsense…
I hope they are just giving us the badnews first and not planing on screwing us up on the 2nd Ammendment thing.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:52 amThe SCOTUS has been loosing its’ collective mind lately. (Although there are four retards on the bench.)
June 25th, 2008 at 9:30 amDeath to all child rapists. It is not cruel and unusual punishment. Give me a freaking break. These pedaphile assholes deserve to die.
And start loading up on ammo, buy that gun you always wanted. If the SCOTUS can vote in favor of pedaphiles, they can vote in favor of taking away 2nd. ammendment rights.
This sucks. I’m holding my breath.
Who gives a fuck what the SC says. Louisiana should put the bastards to death anyway just to see what the fuck the SC can really do about it.
June 25th, 2008 at 10:51 am“the death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim’s life was not taken.”
Isn’t the victim’s life REALLY being taken when they are mere babies?? WTF is this cocksmoker thinking abouT What are all of these libtard cocksmokers thinks about??
The 2nd Amendment case will be handed down tomorrow. If they give a decision in favor of Washington DC, we are truly fucked. Although it is widly held that they will rule in the favor of the plaintiff, anything is possible. We just saw that…
June 25th, 2008 at 12:02 pmFucking idiots…
June 25th, 2008 at 12:54 pmThe Florida girl was Jessica Lunsford … her father Mark Lunsford has become a major champion of continuing to gain justice for his daughter’s rape, kidnapping, and death by suing the county involved … Also there were others living in John Couey’s trailer that did and said absolutely NOTHING to save that poor little girl … and the county would not prosecute them.
http://topics.cnn.com/topics/jessica_lunsford
June 25th, 2008 at 1:18 pmNo, I completely agree with the first paragraph. They should get it in the a$$ everyday from other inmates. Then in 2 or 3 years, send em to the chair. There is nothing more wrong than raping and possibly destroying the life of a child.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:02 pmWow, these asshats have really been a roll lately…eminent domain ruling allowing local gov. to force sell your property, granting constitutional rights to foreign terrorists, and now this. I gotta go reread the Declaration of Independence cause I’m pretty sure it made the case that tyranny was an anathmea.
So…what now SCOTUS? If you continue to put the rights of the criminal ahead of the victims will you act surprised when frontier justice/vigilantism makes a comeback?
I guess the pending 2nd amendment ruling will answer my questions.
June 25th, 2008 at 4:04 pmhttp://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/06/25/1168594.aspx
JUSTICE KENNEDY, AS GOP SCOURGE?
From MSNBC.com’s Tom Curry
“This session of the Supreme Court has been a winner for child rapists and terrorists.”
That is what John McCain’s best buddy in the Senate, Sen. Lindsey Graham, said in a statement today about the Supreme Court’s 5-to-4 ruling in the Louisiana death penalty case. (The two Bush appointees on the court, Roberts and Alito, were in the minority.)
The decision, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, struck down the Louisiana law that permitted the death penalty for those convicted of raping a child.
The word “terrorists” in Graham’s statement was a reference to the high court’s June 12 Boumediene decision which struck down a central part of the 2007 Military Commission Act and gave prisoners at Guantanamo the right to habeas corpus.
That decision, too, was written by Justice Kennedy.
In one sense, it is all due to the blocking of the Bork nomination in 1987 which led to the nomination of Anthony Kennedy, who on days like today is the most powerful man in Washington.
In case anyone might have missed the point Graham added in his statement: “One of the major issues facing our nation is the future makeup of the Supreme Court.”
As I wrote back in 2005, there is “a lesson in this for presidents and those who help them select Supreme Court nominees: when your first candidate fails, and your second surprises you with an awkward episode from his past, you can end up with someone whose decisions you’ll live to regret for 20 years and more. One of the most conservative presidents in American history wound up placing on the high court a judge who turned out to be in some cases — from the conservative perspective — alarmingly liberal.”
June 25th, 2008 at 5:49 pmsee whats screwed to begin with is that the death penalty is only persued in repeat offences, no no no, repeat, wtf, caught once put em in max security with all the hardened murderers who actually have some sense of right and wrong but chose to kill for whatever reason, for life without parol, that is the death penalty, minute its found out what they’ve done they are marked for execution and every walk in the yard will be the last walk to the chair,
June 25th, 2008 at 11:18 pm