New Briefing on Capital Child Rape Case

Crime & Consequences

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     The U.S. Supreme Court has asked for additional briefing on the rehearing petition in the capital child rape case decided in June, Kennedy v. Louisiana. This is most unusual. Rehearing petitions in cases decided after full briefing and argument are usually exercises in futility. But this is an unusual case. Jess Bravin has this story in the WSJ. Lyle Denniston has this post at SCOTUSblog.

I expect that after the supplemental briefing we will see an order denying rehearing and explaining that the previously overlooked military statute does not change the Court's conclusion as to the Louisiana law. It will be interesting to see what they say about whether their decision applies to the military. As noted earlier on this blog, the Court has never expressly said whether the whole Furman line, of which Kennedy is a part, applies to the military at all...

  From The Wall Street Journal:

     SEPTEMBER 9, 2008

High Court May Revisit  Death-Penalty Decision

     WASHINGTON -- In a rare move, the Supreme Court said it might reconsider its June decision that struck down the death penalty for crimes that fall short of murder, after a law blog revealed that the government left out a fact that would have bolstered its argument that executions for such offenses are constitutional.

The case involves a Louisiana statute authorizing a death sentence for the rape of a child. In a 5-4 decision, the court found that capital punishment for the crime violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishments..." Read More

     The U.S. Supreme Court has asked for additional briefing on the rehearing petition in the capital child rape case decided in June, Kennedy v. Louisiana. This is most unusual. Rehearing petitions in cases decided after full briefing and argument are usually exercises in futility. But this is an unusual case. Jess Bravin has this story in the WSJ. Lyle Denniston has this post at SCOTUSblog.

I expect that after the supplemental briefing we will see an order denying rehearing and explaining that the previously overlooked military statute does not change the Court's conclusion as to the Louisiana law. It will be interesting to see what they say about whether their decision applies to the military. As noted earlier on this blog, the Court has never expressly said whether the whole Furman line, of which Kennedy is a part, applies to the military at all...

  From The Wall Street Journal:

     SEPTEMBER 9, 2008

High Court May Revisit  Death-Penalty Decision