The Supreme Court today strikes down the death penalty for the rape of a child that was not meant to nor resulted in death.
I've read the opinions quickly. I'm obviously not the person to give real expert opinion, but I'm writing to note that PG's recent praise of Justice Alito is fully borne out in his dissent today. As I noted briefly on the Volokh blog comments, I think the newest Justice's dissent does serious damage to what I think is an unprincipled majority opinion. I suspect in its calm disection of the majority, it will have greater long term resonance than would a more fiery opinion by someone else.
6/25/2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I am utterly incensed about this ! What kind of precedent does this set ???? Also, I am confused about where this country is headed ...
It sets the precedent that no rape, without some intention to murder, can be punished by death. The plurality opinion in Coker basically said as much.
As for where this country is headed, I would say that it is headed toward penalizing more crimes with death, but shielding more kinds of defendants from being eligible for that penalty.
Post a Comment