For the third time in six years, the Supreme Court on Wednesday placed a category of defendants outside the reach of the death penalty, this time ruling that execution is unconstitutional for those whose crimes did not result in the death of the victim.

By a 5-4 vote, the Court reversed the death penalty for Patrick Kennedy, a Louisiana man sentenced for raping and seriously injuring, but not killing, his 8-year-old stepdaughter. He would have been the first person executed for non-homicide child rape since 1964.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]