The Supreme Court today 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.
Admittedly I am opposed to all capital punishment, but this decision I think is correct. Heinous as child rape may be, there seems to be no proportionality for taking the life of the perpetrator.
