Kennedy v. Louisiana
Citation: 554 U.S. 407 (2008) Court: United States Supreme Court
Facts
Patrick Kennedy was convicted of the rape of his eight-year-old stepdaughter in Louisiana. Louisiana law authorized the death penalty for the rape of a child under 12 where the victim did not die. Kennedy was sentenced to death. He challenged the sentence as a violation of the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
Issue
Does the 8th Amendment prohibit the death penalty for the rape of a child where the crime did not result, and was not intended to result, in the victim’s death?
Holding
Yes. The Supreme Court held that the death penalty is unconstitutional as applied to non-homicide crimes against individuals, including child rape.
Rule / Doctrine
The 8th Amendment’s proportionality principle prohibits the death penalty for crimes against individuals that do not result in the victim’s death. The Court extended Coker v. Georgia (1977), which barred the death penalty for rape of an adult woman, to the context of child rape. Capital punishment is constitutionally limited to crimes that result in death or are offenses against the State (e.g., treason, espionage).
Significance
Kennedy v. Louisiana significantly constrained the use of capital punishment, making clear that only homicide and perhaps certain offenses against the government can support a death sentence. The decision drew a bright constitutional line between lethal and non-lethal crimes for proportionality purposes and reaffirmed the Court’s role in applying evolving standards of decency to 8th Amendment analysis.