Published: June 25, 2008 06:31 pm      

Death penalty ruling draws mixed reaction

By Debby Schamber and Sherry Koonce

The Orange Leader

The Supreme Court’s Wednesday ruling to outlaw executions of those convicted of raping a child brought mixed reactions locally, and across the state.

In a 5-4 vote, the nation’s high court struck down a Louisiana law that allowed the death penalty in cases where the rape victim was a child. The court found that the death penalty when applied to child rape cases violated the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, according to the Associated Press.“The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. His four liberal colleagues joined him in voting against the death penalty, while four more conservative justices dissented, the AP reported.

Texas is one of five states that allowed the death penalty for child rapists. Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas allow executions only if the defendant has previously been convicted of raping a child. In Texas, a child rape occurs when a child is younger than 14.

“Under this new law, if a sex offender receives the minimum 25 year sentence, they will do it day for day,” John Kimbrough, Orange County District Attorney, said. “Also under this law, offenders convicted a second time can receive life without parole.”

Life behind bars is not a strong enough punishment for some, however.

“I believe the vast majority of Texans agree that the death sentence is the appropriate punishment for someone convicted of raping a child,” said Gov. Rick Perry in a statement issued Wednesday.

Despite protests and pleas likes Perry’s, Wednesday’s ruling was considered a victory by some.

Dave Atwood, founder of Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty group in Austin, said the ruling would prevent expansion of execution in cases that are not death related, where there has not been a murder.

The Supreme Court’s ruling upheld the 30-year-old ruling, Coker Vs. Georgia. In that case, the court held that capital punishment was an excessive penalty for rape because, while that crime was heinous, it did not take a life.

“If that ruling were struck down, it would open the door to giving the death penalty for crimes beyond the crime of murder,” Atwood said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “Today it may be for a child rape, tomorrow for rape of an adult, and so on.”

Atwood said his experience in dealing with death row inmates led him to believe the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime.

“I have met with many prisoners on death row over the years, they are not thinking of consequences and they don’t think they will get caught,” he said.

Though their reasoning is different, the Texas Association of Sexual Assault issued a statement Wednesday in support of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

According to the statement, victim advocates have long been concerned that the death penalty for child sexual assault cases could backfire and result in fewer convictions of sex offenders.

Because most child sexual abuse victims are abused by a family member or close family friend, the group believed child victims and their families would not want to be responsible for sending a grandparent, cousin or longtime family friend to death row.

Karen Amacker, communications director for Texas Association of Sexual Assault, said there was also a concern that, if the death penalty had been upheld for child rapists, those children’s lives would have been further endangered.

“When you remove any sort of incentive for the perpetrator to keep the victim alive, they are more likely to kill the victim,” Amacker said.

The Louisiana law allowing for the execution of a child rapist was first utilized when Patrick Kennedy, 43, of Harvey, La. was convicted of the 1998 aggravated rape of his 8-year-old step-daughter. Kennedy raped the girl while she was in the garage sorting Girl Scout Cookies. The victim initially said it was two boys who committed the crime, but later identified Kennedy as the rapist.

The girl required surgery due to the brutal nature of the attack. Deputies claim that Kennedy later bragged of the crime.

His attorneys filed an appeal and the Louisiana Supreme Court rejected his appeal and upheld the ruling stating that, “short of first-degree murder, we can think of no other non-homicide crime more deserving,” of the death penalty.

The Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday leaves Kennedy’s conviction intact, but will open the door for appeals.

Jessica’s law was originally created in Florida when 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford was kidnapped, raped and murdered in February 2005 by a previously convicted sex offender. Public outrage over the case spurred legislators to pass legislation to protect children from such predators.

Since that time, more than 30 states have passed similar legislation.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.