Wikipedia

Kennedy v. Louisiana

Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407 (2008), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States which held that the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for a crime in which the victim did not die and the victim's death was not intended.

Kennedy v. Louisiana
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 16, 2008
Decided June 25, 2008
Full case namePatrick O. Kennedy v. State of Louisiana
Docket no.07-343
Citations554 U.S. 407 (more)
128 S. Ct. 2641; 171 L. Ed. 2d 525; 2008 U.S. LEXIS 5262; 2008 WL 2511282; 08 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7920; 76 U.S.L.W. 4584; 2008 Daily Journal D.A.R. 9470; 21 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 472
ArgumentOral argument
Case history
PriorDefendant convicted, sentenced, La. Dist. Ct., Aug. 26, 2003; aff'd, State v. Kennedy, 957 So.2d 757 (La. 2007); cert. granted, 552 U.S. 1087 (2008).
ProceduralWrit of Certiorari to the Louisiana Supreme Court
SubsequentSupplemental briefing ordered, 554 U.S. 943 (2008). Opinion modified; Petition for Rehearing denied, 554 U.S. 945 (2008)
Holding
It is unconstitutional to impose the death penalty for a crime where the victim did not die and the victim's death was not intended.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia
Anthony Kennedy · David Souter
Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Case opinions
MajorityKennedy, joined by Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer
DissentAlito, joined by Roberts, Scalia, Thomas
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. VIII, XIV; La. Stat. Ann. §14:42

Background

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In the 19th and early-20th century rape was a capital crime in most jurisdictions. The Supreme Court ruled in the 1977 Coker v. Georgia that the rape of adult women could not be punished by death. Some states introduced the death penalty for the rape of very young children under 12 based on Coker being limited to adult women (the victim in that case was a 16 year old married woman with a newborn baby).[1][2][3]

Case history

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Patrick O'Neal Kennedy
Born (1964-12-13) December 13, 1964 (age 59)
Harvey, Louisiana, U.S.
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Conviction(s)Aggravated rape of a child
Criminal penaltyDeath; commuted to life imprisonment
Details
DateMarch 1998
Imprisoned atElayn Hunt Correctional Center

Patrick O'Neal Kennedy (born December 13, 1964),[4] a man from Harvey, Louisiana in Greater New Orleans,[5] was sentenced to death after being convicted of raping and sodomizing his eight-year-old stepdaughter. The rape, taking place in March 1998, was uncommonly brutal: it tore the victim's perineum "from her vaginal opening to her anal opening. [It] tore her vagina on the interior such that it separated partially from her cervix and allowed her rectum to protrude into her vagina. Invasive emergency surgery was required to repair these injuries."[6] Kennedy maintained that the battery was committed by two neighborhood boys, and refused to plead guilty when a deal was offered to spare him from a death sentence.[7] Nevertheless, he was convicted in 2003 and sentenced under a 1995 Louisiana law that allowed the death penalty for the rape of a child under the age of 12.[8]

On appeal, Kennedy challenged the constitutionality of executing a person solely for child rape. The Louisiana Supreme Court rejected the challenge on the grounds that the death penalty was not too harsh for such a heinous offense.[9] The Louisiana court distinguished the U.S. Supreme Court's plurality decision in Coker v. Georgia (1977), concluding that Coker's rejection of death as punishment for rape of an adult woman did not apply when the victim was a child.

Kennedy was one of two men in the country under sentence of death for a crime other than murder; the other, Richard L. Davis, had been sentenced under the same Louisiana law.[10] Kennedy sought direct review of the Louisiana Supreme Court's decision in the Supreme Court of the United States,[11] which agreed to hear the case in January 2008.[12]

Argument

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Jeffrey L. Fisher, a Stanford Law School professor appealing on behalf of Kennedy, argued there was "overwhelming national consensus" against capital punishment for rape, including child rape. He argued that between 1930 and 1964 most of the people executed for rape in the United States were black. Furthermore, all fourteen people executed for rape in Louisiana during that same time period were black.[1]

The state of Louisiana said that more States were authorizing the death sentence for child rape since Coker. The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that the execution of any member of the class of mentally retarded persons under 18 was unconstitutional based on fewer states allowing the punishment over time. The state of Louisiana argued that the same logic should apply for categories of specific heinous crimes if the number of states authorizing the death penalty for that specific crime is increasing over time.[1]

Questions of law presented

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  1. Does the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause permit a State to use the death penalty to punish the crime of raping a child?
  2. If so, does Louisiana's capital rape statute violate the Eighth Amendment insofar as it fails genuinely to narrow the class of such offenders eligible for the death penalty?[13]

Opinion of the Supreme Court

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Majority

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On June 25, 2008, the Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Kennedy that "the Eighth Amendment bars Louisiana from imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child where the crime did not result, and was not intended to result, in the victim's death."

In an earlier case Enmund the Court found a national consensus against the death penalty for vicarious felony murder even though it was allowed by eight states. Based on Enmund the Court rejected the argument that a trend or change in direction could be shown by six states allowing death sentences for child rapists. They added that "there are measures of consensus other than legislation":

After reviewing the authorities informed by contemporary norms, including the history of the death penalty for this and other nonhomicide crimes, current state statutes and new enactments, and the number of executions since 1964, we conclude there is a national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape.

Responding to Lousiana's objection that more states world have approved capital punishment for child rape if Coker had not been ambiguous, the Court concluded that Coker's holding was correctly understood by state legislatures as limited to adult women:[14]

We concluded...that there is no clear indication that state legislatures have misinterpreted Coker to hold that the death penalty for child rape is unconstitutional. The small number of States that have enacted this penalty, then, is relevant to determining whether there is a consensus against capital punishment for this crime.

The Court's "evolving standards to decency" analysis does not end with a finding of national consensus:

"[T]he Constitution contemplates that in the end our own judgment will be brought to bear on the question of the acceptability of the death penalty under the Eighth Amendment." Coker, supra, at 597, 97 S.Ct. 2861 (plurality opinion); see also Roper, supra, at 563, 125 S.Ct. 1183; Enmund, supra, at 797, 102 S.Ct. 3368

According to the Court, "[t]he death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child." The Court explained that there was a distinction between intentional first degree murder and nonhomicide crimes including raping a child:

The court concludes that there is a distinction between intentional first-degree murder, on the one hand, and non-homicide crimes against individuals, even including child rape, on the other. The latter crimes may be devastating in their harm, as here, but in terms of moral depravity and of the injury to the person and to the public, they cannot compare to murder in their severity and irrevocability.

The opinion concluded that in cases of crimes against individuals, "the death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim's life was not taken".[15]

The majority opinion left open the possibility of the death penalty for "drug kingpin activity", as well as treason, espionage and terrorism, these being considered crimes against "the State" rather than against "individual persons":

Our concern here is limited to crimes against individual persons. We do not address, for example, crimes defining and punishing treason, espionage, terrorism, and drug kingpin activity, which are offenses against the State.[16]

Dissent

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In his dissent, Justice Alito sharply criticized the majority for usurping the role of the legislature. Alito argued that Kennedy's rationale for defining national consensus was flawed, because the previous Coker decision had "stunted legislative consideration of the question whether the death penalty for the targeted offense of raping a young child is consistent with prevailing standards of decency." In this Alito followed former Chief Justice Warren Burger, who had dissented from Coker because it, in his view, prevented a full debate over the uses of the recently reinstated death penalty. In this vein, Alito also argued that "The Eighth Amendment protects the right of an accused. It does not authorize this Court to strike down federal or state criminal laws on the ground that they are not in the best interests of crime victims or the broader society."[17]

Reactions

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The decision was handed down in the run-up to a presidential election and both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, criticized the majority opinion.

Barack Obama said at a news conference in Chicago:

I have said repeatedly that I think that the death penalty should be applied in very narrow circumstances for the most egregious of crimes ... I think that the rape of a small child, six or eight years old, is a heinous crime and if a state makes a decision that under narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances the death penalty is at least potentially applicable, that that does not violate our Constitution.

Obama also argued that the high court had gone too far in restricting the powers of the states. If the court had "said we want to constrain the abilities of states to do this to make sure that it's done in a careful and appropriate way, that would have been one thing. But it basically had a blanket prohibition and I disagree with that decision."[18]

John McCain responded to the ruling by calling it:

an assault on law enforcement's efforts to punish these heinous felons for the most despicable crime. That there is a judge anywhere in America who does not believe that the rape of a child represents the most heinous of crimes, which is deserving of the most serious of punishments, is profoundly disturbing.[19]

In January 2009, U.S. Senator for Louisiana David Vitter introduced S. Res. 4, "A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the Supreme Court of the United States erroneously decided Kennedy v. Louisiana, No. 07-343 (2008), and that the eighth amendment to the Constitution of the United States allows the imposition of the death penalty for the rape of a child." This resolution was never voted upon by the full Senate and died in committee when the 111th Congress adjourned.[20]

During his 2012 campaign for a Texas Senate seat, Ted Cruz was criticized for not including the military case law in his brief to the Supreme Court. Cruz responded stating that the oversight did not affect the ruling as Louisiana raised the issue when it requested a rehearing, which was denied.[21]

In 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis supported moves to have the death penalty for defendants convicted of child rape, which could ultimately challenge the precedent of Kennedy v. Louisiana.[22][23][24][25][26] In May 2023, DeSantis signed a bill that allows the possibility of the death penalty for the rape of a child under 12 years of age, though it will be judicially unenforceable unless Kennedy is overturned.[27][28][29][30][31]

In 2024, Idaho and Tennessee pushed for similar laws.[32][33][34] [35] It would fail to pass in Idaho,[36] but it passed in Tennessee.[37][38]

Subsequent developments

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Reversed death sentence

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The Louisiana Supreme Court remanded the case back to the district court for resentencing. After a brief hearing, Kennedy was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on January 7, 2009. [39].

Petition for rehearing

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Three days after the case was decided, Dwight Sullivan, a colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve who was the Chief Defense Counsel for the Office of Military Commissions, noted in his CAAFlog on military justice that Congress had revised the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 2006 to add child rape to the list of offenses punishable in the military by death.[40][41] None of the 10 briefs filed with the Court, and neither the majority nor dissent, mentioned the provision. On July 2, 2008, Linda Greenhouse of The New York Times highlighted Sullivan's post, bringing the issue to national attention.[42]

After the error was discovered, supporters of the law—including the governors of Missouri and Louisiana, and 85 members of Congress—petitioned for rehearing. The United States Department of Justice also filed a brief supporting rehearing. It noted that it too had missed the 2006 amendment; since it has a duty to defend all federal laws, and since the decision called that law into question, it was duty-bound to favor rehearing.[43]

The court requested briefs from both the state and the defense on the matter with the possibility of amending the ruling. On October 1, 2008, however, the Supreme Court decided 7–2 not to revisit its decision. In addition to the majority of five in the original case,[44] Scalia and Roberts also filed a concurrence, writing that "the views of the American people on the death penalty for child rape were, to tell the truth, irrelevant to the majority's decision in this case ... and there is no reason to believe that absence of a national consensus would provoke second thoughts."[45] Only Thomas and Alito voted for the rehearing.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Savage, David G. (January 5, 2008). "High court to rule on child–rape execution". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 4, 2014. The last execution for rape was in 1964, in Missouri.
  2. ^ Linda Greenhouse (June 26, 2008). "Justices Bar Death Penalty for the Rape of a Child". The New York Times. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  3. ^ Kennedy at 97
  4. ^ "Joint Appendix, Kennedy v. Louisiana (Case 07-343)" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 20, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
  5. ^ Purpura, Paul (December 20, 2013). "Patrick Kennedy, whose conviction led to ban on executing child rapists, to remain in prison during appeal". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  6. ^ "Oral Argument of Counselor Juliet L. Clark in Kennedy v. Louisiana". The Oyez Project at Chicago-Kent. 27:28–27:45.
  7. ^ Oliphant, James (June 26, 2008). "Death penalty for child rape banned". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 4, 2014. He had been offered life in prison if he pleaded guilty. He refused and was sentenced to death in 2003.
  8. ^ https://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/15/rape.execution/ [bare URL]
  9. ^ See Louisiana v. Kennedy, 957 So.2d 757 (La. 2007)
  10. ^ Wilson, Loresha (December 13, 2007). "Death for rapist: Jury says man should die for assaulting 5–year–old". Shreveport Times. Archived from the original on April 21, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
  11. ^ See 28 U.S.C. § 1257(a) ("Final judgments or decrees rendered by the highest court of a State in which a decision could be had, may be reviewed by the Supreme Court by writ of certiorari where the validity of ... a statute of any State is drawn in question on the ground of its being repugnant to the Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States....")
  12. ^ Savage, David G. (January 5, 2008). "High court to rule on child–rape execution". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 4, 2014. The Supreme Court said Friday [January 4, 2008] it would decide whether a convicted child rapist could be put to death...
  13. ^ U.S. Supreme Court Docket 07-343 - Questions Presented - Retrieved April 27, 2008
  14. ^ Leary, Mary Graw (2008). "Kennedy v. Louisiana: A Chapter of Subtle Changes in the Supreme Court's Book on the Death Penalty". Federal Sentencing Reporter. 21 (2): 100.
  15. ^ Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407, 437 (2008) ("[T]he death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim’s life was not taken.").
  16. ^ Kennedy v. Louisiana, Supreme Court of the United States, pp. 26–27
  17. ^ Kennedy v. Louisiana, Alito, J., dissenting, slip op., at 15.
  18. ^ Martin, Patrick (June 26, 2008). "Obama attacks US Supreme Court decision barring death penalty for child rape". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved November 2, 2014. If the court had 'said we want to constrain the abilities of states to do this to make sure that it's done in a careful and appropriate way, that would have been one thing. But it basically had a blanket prohibition and I disagree with that decision.'
  19. ^ Kugler, Sara (June 25, 2008). "Obama Disagrees With High Court on Child Rape Case". ABC News. Archived from the original on May 24, 2009. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  20. ^ S.Res. 4
  21. ^ Batheja, Aman (July 22, 2012). "Senate Candidate and Supreme Court Have a History". The New York Times.
  22. ^ "Gov. Ron DeSantis in South Florida to announce law & order legislation". CBS News. January 26, 2023.
  23. ^ "DeSantis proposes death penalty for certain sex crimes, increased punishment for fentanyl".
  24. ^ "DeSantis-backed death penalty bill flouts Supreme Court precedent — for now". MSNBC. March 3, 2023.
  25. ^ Deliberato, Maria; Kalmanson, Melanie (April 10, 2023). "Ron DeSantis is Luring the Supreme Court to Overturn Landmark Precedent Again". Slate.
  26. ^ "DeSantis-backed stricter death penalty bill could prompt Supreme Court review". April 11, 2023.
  27. ^ "DeSantis signs law allowing death penalty for child rape, defying US Supreme Court ruling". USA TODAY. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  28. ^ Ray, Siladitya. "DeSantis Signs New Death Penalty Bill—Setting Up Possible Supreme Court Clash". Forbes. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  29. ^ "DeSantis expands Florida death penalty law, defying U.S. Supreme Court". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  30. ^ Maher, Kit (May 1, 2023). "DeSantis signs bill making child rapists eligible for death penalty at odds with US Supreme Court ruling | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  31. ^ "Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill allowing death sentence for child rape".
  32. ^ "Idaho Legislature introduces bill to allow death penalty for lewd conduct with minor under 12 • Idaho Capital Sun".
  33. ^ "Controversial Idaho House bill would give death penalty for those convicted of heinous sexual acts against children under 12". February 14, 2024.
  34. ^ https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politics/tennessee-lawmaker-proposes-death-penalty-for-rape-of-a-child/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2nXDmPC3AbMsXCDKW8k6DUTfdNshBN558Gb6KWManVIcoh8RgmUiALUPU_aem_AdcuOzSqI_wChQqWURrlKgdm_m-2EpKXGRnZYZP_rHHu3WSCGaoXm8g4aiRWYoCZF5RsQqTcInrYAGWDkFMvtrUI [bare URL]
  35. ^ "Tennessee bill to allow death penalty for child rape in passes first legislative hurdle". The Tennessean.
  36. ^ https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article286810940.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0Rk8iMJxJ57JgeZTeotVjwROtVV3XIPfMBtINz-TR51NnElEhYHtowX4Q_aem_Adfb-5NRR81erWN31R_4RuYe7fMQ3qAGkDrnCJu2wUmK4zzVl1Kc7yp4fzKPwFNNC2VkPbksjjfqDjhnC6B5Rub6 [bare URL]
  37. ^ "Tennessee governor OKs bill allowing death penalty for child rape convictions". Associated Press News. May 14, 2024.
  38. ^ "Bill authorizing death penalty for child rapists signed by Gov. Lee". May 14, 2024.
  39. ^ Purpura, Paul (January 7, 2009). "Convicted child rapist spared the death penalty is resentenced to life in prison". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  40. ^ Sullivan, Dwight (June 28, 2008). "The Supremes dis the military justice system". Retrieved April 7, 2009.
  41. ^ Adler, Jonathan (July 2, 2008). "Blogger Finds Factual Error in Kennedy's Kennedy Opinion". Retrieved April 7, 2009.
  42. ^ Greenhouse, Linda (July 2, 2008). "In Court Ruling on Executions, a Factual Flaw". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
  43. ^ Stout, David (July 11, 2008). "Justices Are Asked to Reconsider". The New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2008.
  44. ^ "Order of the Supreme Court on Petition for Rehearing" (PDF). Statement of JUSTICE KENNEDY, with whom JUSTICE STEVENS, JUSTICE SOUTER, JUSTICE GINSBURG, and JUSTICE BREYER join, respecting the denial of rehearing.
  45. ^ Scalia, Antonin (October 1, 2008). "Statement of JUSTICE SCALIA, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE joins, respecting the denial of rehearing" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved April 7, 2009.
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