Supreme Court to Hear Child Rapist Case

Patrick Kennedy is one of only two inmates on death row for a nonhomicide crime.

ByABC News
January 4, 2008, 2:29 PM

Jan. 4, 2007— -- Lawyers for a Louisiana man who received a death sentence for raping a child will get the chance to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court why they believe he should be spared the death penalty.

Patrick Kennedy was accused of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter in 1998, badly injuring her during the crime. She testified against him five years later at the trial. When Kennedy was sentenced, he received the death penalty a punishment typically reserved for those who commit murder.

Kennedy's legal team wants the court to declare Louisiana's law allowing the death penalty for child rape unconstitutional. Only two people in the United States are on death row for nonhomicide offenses, and both are in that state.

Some unusual allies have filed briefs supporting Kennedy's case: victims' rights organizations. The groups contend that supporting a death penalty law in such cases could carry terrible consequences, such as encouraging rapists to kill their victims.

Victoria Camp at the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, said courts shouldn't be "revictimizing the victims" of these assaults. Camp also said that Justice Department statistics show that more than 90 percent of child assault victims were abused by a family member or close family friend. She said, "It's too hard for a child victim to have to testify against 'Uncle John' when they know he may be put to death."

The issue before the court will be to consider whether the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment clause permits a state to impose the death penalty a punishment usually reserved for those convicted of murder for child rape.

If that is the case, Kennedy's attorneys ask a second question: Does Louisiana's capital rape statute violate the Eighth Amendment because it doesn't set clear guidelines for juries as to who is eligible for the death penalty?

Last month, Richard Lee Davis became the second man in the United States on death row for a nonhomicide offense after a jury convicted him of raping a 5-year old child and the court sentenced him to death. Davis joined Kennedy on Louisiana's death row.