Louisiana Supreme Court Upholds Death Penalty Decision for Rapist Patrick Kennedy
Patrick Kennedy, 42, was sentenced to death in the rape of an 8-year-old girl in 2003. He is now on death row.
Under Louisiana law, aggravated rape of someone under the age of 12, allows for the death penalty.
According to the Associated Press, both sides of this court case are saying this ruling could expand a 1977 Supreme Court decision. The U.S. Supreme court ruled that the death penalty for rape was a violation of the 8th Amendment. They also said that the decision was only for adult victims.
The director of the New Orleans-based Capital Appeals Project, Jelpi Picou, was quoted by the Associated Press. "As horrid as (rape) is and as harshly as we believe it should be condemned, death is inappropriate in this case." Picou also stated that Kennedy is the only inmate in the U.S. on death row for a non-homicide rape.
Kennedy was accused of raping the little girl as she was sorting her Girl Scout cookies in the garage of her home. The Associated Press reported that deputies said Kennedy boasted that the girl "became a lady today."
Louisiana is not the only state with this law. In 2006, the governors of South Carolina and Oklahoma signed laws that allow the death penalty for rapists who repeatedly target children. Texas is waiting for the governor's decision on their law which hands out the death penalty for second offenses of child rape. This according to the Associated Press.
Florida, Georgia, and Montana also have such laws. However, Richard Dieter, from the Death Penalty Information Center says he knows of no case that has been prosecuted successfully with these laws.
DPCI is a non-profit organization serving the media and the public with analysis and information on issues concerning capital punishment.
Kennedy's defense attorney, at the time of his conviction, argued that the victim had been pressured into changing her story. Blood tests were also inconclusive. The Associated Press also reported it took 21 months for the victim to come forward and report the case.
Concerning the ruling handed down on Tuesday, Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Victory wrote, "Our state Legislature and this court have determined this category of aggravated rapist to be among those deserving of the death penalty, and, short of a first-degree murderer, we can think of no other non-homicide crime more deserving."
Attorney Picou told the Associated Press that he will ask for a re-hearing. If it is denied, he will follow up with an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Picou was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "As horrid as (rape) is and as harshly as we believe it should be condemned, death is inappropriate in this case."
Source: Kevin McGill, the Associated Press, "LA Rapist's Death Sentence Upheld" Associated Press writer Janet McConnaughey contributed to this report.
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9 Comments
Post a CommentWell, I guess if I ever rape a child, I'll be sure to murder the child if it's a state that has the death penalty for such a thing. I wonder how many children will (have) been killed becasue of this type of thing?
Massachusetts had the death penalty for rape in the 1800's. Is a young child who was raped similar in any way to someone who was murdered? What makes murder worse than child rape? If one is murdered they are gone and live no life. If someone is raped at a very young age they have lost their life. They will most likely never trust or experience human intimacy the way most other people do. They have lost a major portion of who they are or can be. They will suffer thousands of hours of agony, there is no cure for that level of trauma, it cannot be removed. The cost to attempt to get better is expensive and there is no amount of state counseling that can solve this trauma. I would call this soul stealing, the body may still exist but what happened to the soul of that young child? The damage is so extreme that in my opinion the death penalty is warranted. Why are we paying money to keep these evil people alive? Do you think the families of these evil people would pay out of their own pock
All of you are amazing playing GOD!!! Very sad! I do promise you this though, when this case is brought before the Supreme Court, it will be overturned. He will not be executed!
this site sucks ass
I think he should be killed by the inmates in his prison... after they "make a lady out of him".
I guess Louisiana is looking to be the first to the finish line relative to capital punishment for this sort of crime. And I know I'm going against the grain, when I say, that as horrible as this is, he should get life in prison with no possibliity of parole, not the death penalty.
This will surely set a precedent and hopefully others will think twice before committing such a horrific crime. Great reporting.
Rapist and child molestors are seldom if every rehabed. These are deep seeded crimes that are inherent in the criminal and they should be executed or face life in prision when there is no doubt that they are perpetrators. Drug dealers, killers, thieves all can be rehabed but a rapist and child molestor will do this again no matter the change in their financial circumstances
Great reporting on this. Hopefully he will become the first in the U.S. to receive such punishment for such a horrific crime.