Obama On Target

In consideration of a law in the state of Louisiana which extended the death penalty to the rape of children under 12 years of age, the United States Supreme Court ruled on June 25 that execution for any individual crime (as contrasted to "offenses against the state" such as treason or espionage) is prohibited if "the victim's life was not taken." Writing for the 5-4 majority, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy in Kennedy (no relation( v. Louisiana contended that the death penalty was so disproportionate to the offense as to constitute "cruel and unusual punishment," a violation of the Eighth Amendment.

After the Louisiana law was enacted in 1995, Georgia, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas enacted laws which- unlike that in Louisiana- authorized the death penalty for the rape of a child only if there is an aggravating factor, such as a previous rape conviction. However, no one has been sentenced to death under those laws and the last execution for rape of a child occurred in the U.S.A. 44 years ago- hence, unusual.

Predictably, presumptive Repub presidential nominee John McCain assailed the ruling. Less predictably, Barack Obama also dissented from the decision, stating

I think that the rape of a small child, 6 or 8 years old, is a heinous crime, and if a state makes a decision that under narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances, the death penalty is at least potentially applicable, that does not violate our Constitution.

This might, unfortunately, be an example of Obama splitting the difference, rendering an opinion he knows is uncontroversial. Nevertheless, requiring aggravating factors should satisfy the Court, which interprets the Eighth Amendment according to "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." And there is nothing in the constitution that expressly precludes application of the death penalty upon commission of an offense which does not involve death. Here Obama, the liberal, is a strict constructionist, unlike the Court majority, which, only a few hours ago demonstrated ignorance of the concept in ruling on the D.C. gun ban. More on that coming up.