Kennedy v. Louisiana Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Kennedy v. Louisiana - Case Study Example uries were the most severe he had seen from a sexual assault in his four years of practice.† (Supreme Court of the United States, Patrick Kennedy, Petitioner v. Louisiana, 2008) The brutality of the way in which the crime was committed forced the US supreme court to declare maximum punishment for the accused. Kennedy denied the charges and he accused that the two neighboring boys were the actual culprits. The main issue in this case is about the validity of death sentence given to the accused. The Courts ruling failed to consider the federal law in the military justice system regarding the death penalty. â€Å"The Eighth Amendment bars Louisiana from imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child where the crime did not result, and was not intended to result, in the victims death† (KENNEDY v. LOUISIANA, 2008) .The Court’s Division bench who heard this case was not unanimous about their judgment. Only 5 out of the 9 judges written in favor of the death sentenced while 4 of them strongly opposed the death sentence. Most of the people in various states have opposed the capital punishment. The court cannot act based on the consensus among the public. The court needs to look into the constitution and the law for delivering their verdicts. If the capital punishment is against the public will, then it is the duty of the government to change the constitutional law regarding capital punishment. The law regarding the death sentence is included in the â€Å"Eighth Amendment — Death Penalty — Punishment for Child Rape†. (Harvard Law Review, p.296) Even this law allow death sentence to a criminal only if the victim was killed. So in unusual circumstances only the death sentence is imposed. These unusual circumstances may be perceived differently by different people. years, lack of knowledge of the victims age shall not be a defence.† (KENNEDY v. LOUISIANA, 2008) In a rape case nobody can argue that they were not aware of the victim’s age. Since the rape itself