Kennedy v. Louisiana

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Kennedy v. Louisiana
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 16, 2008
Full case name: Patrick O. Kennedy v. State of Louisiana
Docket #: 07-343
Citations: U.S.
Procedural history: Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed the defendant's conviction and death sentence. State v. Kennedy, 957 So.2d 757 (La. 2007)
Holding
Court membership
Chief Justice: John Glover Roberts, Jr.
Associate Justices: John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito
Case opinions
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. VIII

Kennedy v. Louisiana, No. 07-343 (2008), is a case currently before the Supreme Court of the United States that will address whether the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause permits a State to punish the crime of rape of a child with the death penalty.

The case was argued on April 16, 2008.[1] A decision by the Court is expected by June 2008. [2]

Contents

[edit] Background

Patrick Kennedy, a black man from suburban New Orleans, was sentenced to death after being convicted of raping his eight-year-old stepdaughter. He has contended since the assault occurred in March 1998 that it was committed by two neighborhood boys. His attorneys have said he refused to plead guilty when a deal was offered to spare him from a death sentence.

The Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed the imposition of the death sentence, noting that, although the U.S. Supreme Court had struck down capital punishment for rape of an adult woman in Coker v. Georgia, that ruling did not apply when the victim was a child. Rather, the Louisiana Supreme Court applied a balancing test set out by the Court in Atkins v. Virginia and Roper v. Simmons, first examining whether there is a national consensus on the punishment and then considering whether the court would find the punishment excessive. In this case, the Louisiana Supreme Court felt that the adoption of similar laws in five other states, coupled with the unique vulnerability of children, justified imposing the death penalty.[3]

[edit] U.S. Supreme Court

In seeking certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Kennedy argued that five states do not constitute a "national consensus" for the purposes of Eighth Amendment analysis, that Coker v. Georgia should apply to all rapes regardless of the age of the victim, and that the law was unfair in its application, singling out black child rapists for death at a significantly higher rate than whites. Certiorari to the defendant was granted on January 4, 2008.[4]

The case poses a direct test of whether states may constitutionally impose the death penalty for any crime other than murder, and, in particular, whether a death sentence is a disproportionate penalty, under the Eighth Amendment, for raping a child. No person has been executed in the United States for rape since 1964.[5]

Jeffrey L. Fisher of Stanford Law School argued for Patrick Kennedy. Louisiana Assistant District Attorney Juliet L. Clark argued for the State of Louisiana and Texas Solicitor General R. Ted Cruz argued for the State of Texas and other amicus curiae states.[6]

[edit] Questions presented

  1. Whether the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause permits a State to punish the crime of rape of a child with the death penalty.
  2. If so, whether Louisiana's capital rape statute violates the Eighth Amendment insofar as it fails genuinely to narrow the class of such offenders eligible for the death penalty.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ U.S. Supreme Court - Transcript of Oral Argument (http://supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/07-343.pdf) - Retrieved June 6, 2008
  2. ^ The Christian Science Monitor: Should child rapists face death penalty? (http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0416/p02s01-usju.html?page=2) ("A decision in the case is expected by late June.") - Retrieved April 27, 2008
  3. ^ Louisiana Supreme Court Opinion: Louisiana v. Kennedy (http://www.lasc.org/opinions/2007/05KA1981.opn.pdf) Retrieved April 27, 2008
  4. ^ U.S Supreme Court Docket 07-343 (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/07-343.htm) - Retrieved April 27, 2008
  5. ^ Associated Press: Death Penalty for Child Rape Is Fought (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iiEniqpAKUX1RKGGD9edZH_WHkYwD901QN0O1) ("[I]n 1964... a man in Missouri went to the gas chamber in what was the last time someone in this country was put to death for rape.") - Retrieved April 27, 2008
  6. ^ U.S Supreme Court Docket 07-343 (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/07-343.htm) - Retrieved April 27, 2008
  7. ^ U.S Supreme Court Docket 07-343 - Questions Presented (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/qp/07-00343qp.pdf) - Retrieved April 27, 2008

[edit] External links

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