South Carolina Attorney General Joins 20 AGs Urging Death Penalty Reinstatement for Child Rape

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general urging the Department of Justice and White House General Counsel to support overturning the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana, which banned the death penalty for child rape cases where the victim did not die. Wilson and others argue that the Supreme Court "got it wrong" and that capital punishment is constitutionally appropriate for the most heinous crimes against children. They contend that the ruling stripped states of an essential tool to punish and deter child predators and that there is no national consensus against the death penalty for child rape, as several states have enacted laws authorizing it. Wilson emphasized that child rapists commit monstrous crimes and should face the harshest legal penalties to prioritize child safety above criminals' interests. Additionally, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace has secured a House amendment allowing military prosecutors to seek the death penalty for child rape, signaling a broader push to challenge constitutional limits on capital punishment for such offenses. This move has reignited debate over the appropriate scope of the death penalty in cases involving child sexual assault.