(Download) "Prohibiting the Death Penalty for the Rape of a Child While Overlooking Wrongful Execution: Kennedy V. Louisiana." by South Dakota Law Review * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Prohibiting the Death Penalty for the Rape of a Child While Overlooking Wrongful Execution: Kennedy V. Louisiana.
- Author : South Dakota Law Review
- Release Date : January 22, 2009
- Genre: Education,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 311 KB
Description
I. INTRODUCTION When the first colonists arrived on North American soil, they permitted the death penalty for the rape of an adult or a child. (1) However, as the colonies developed, each promulgated its own rules to determine an appropriate punishment for rape. (2) In 1972, Furman v. Georgia (3) nearly halted the use of the death penalty as a punishment for the rape of an adult or a child. (4) The Court held that death constituted a cruel and unusual punishment when applied to the crime of rape, since the crime did not necessarily result in a death. (5) Though the majority of states do not permit the death penalty for the rape of an adult or a child, five other states--Georgia, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas--followed Louisiana's lead and enacted statutes allowing the death penalty for the rape of a child. (6)