Court reins in death

No executions for rape of a child

July 3, 2008

The death penalty remains a fact of life in the United States, but its reach just got a bit shorter. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that the Constitution doesn't permit execution as punishment for raping a child, or for most any offense in which the victim wasn't killed. That's good.

Capital punishment is an abomination. It is fraught with error and doesn't deter crime. The United States should join the rest of the civilized world and abandon capital punishment altogether. Until it does, the ultimate punishment should at least be reserved for murder, the ultimate crime, as it is in the majority of states. The only exceptions the court recognized are crimes against the nation, such as treason or espionage.

Both presidential candidates, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, disagree with the court when it comes to executing child rapists. That's unfortunate. As the court pointed out in its decision, the possibility of the death penalty in child rape cases "may not result in more effective law enforcement." It could lead to fewer such rapes being reported by victims concerned that the perpetrator could be executed, particularly if he is a family member. It would force victims to endure years of litigation, which would be burdened with the documented problems of child testimony that create a special risk of wrongful execution. And capital punishment for rape would remove one strong incentive for the rapist not to also kill his victim.

Had the court not acted, Patrick Kennedy, convicted in 2003 of the depraved rape of his then 8-year-old stepdaughter, would have become the first person executed for a nonhomicide since 1963. Now he'll spend the rest of his life in prison, without the possibility of parole. He should rot behind bars. And the court, though obviously split, should continue its slow walk away from legally sanctioned homicide.