Bring Back The Death Penalty For Child Rape?
In Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407 (2008), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty could not be imposed for rape of a child, no matter how brutal or aggravated the rape or the age of the victim. The majority dredged up the "evolving standards of decency" doctrine to rule that imposing a sentence of death on a child rapist would constitute "cruel and unusual punishment" under the Eighth Amendment, and would thus be unconstitutional.
I, for one, think that the only thing indecent here is the Court's ruling. To my way of thinking, few crimes are more despicable, more atrocious, and more outrageous than the rape of a child.
Perhaps the publication of these atrocities will encourage State lawmakers to defy the Supreme Court, enact new death penalty laws for child rape, and defend those laws as not comporting with the will of the people. Perhaps a new "evolving standard of decency" as evidenced by new laws, vigorously defended, will emerge and will show the Court that their ruling in Kennedy was wrong. Doubtful, I know. But remember the civil rights struggle that took place over decades. Eventually, Plessy v. Ferguson was revisited, and overturned.
We made a serious mistake in our country when we allowed nine "men in black," unelected and unaccountable to the people, to get away with imposing their "judgment" on our citizens under the guise of interpreting the Constitution. Is it not time to let our will be known?