Louisiana Joins 20-State Push to Overturn Supreme Court Ban on Death Penalty for Child Rapists

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general urging the Trump administration to challenge the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana, which prohibits the death penalty for child rape cases where the victim survives. They argue the ruling wrongly limits state authority to impose capital punishment and fails to adequately punish or deter child rapists, emphasizing the lifelong trauma inflicted on victims. The coalition's formal letter requests support from the U.S. Attorney General and White House counsel to push for reconsideration of the ruling, highlighting recent state laws in Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Idaho that allow death penalty use in extreme child rape cases. Murrill and other officials stress the severity of these crimes and the need for robust laws to protect children, with local prosecutors indicating they would consider the harshest penalties if the Supreme Court reverses its precedent. The 2008 decision stemmed from a Louisiana case where Patrick O'Neal Kennedy's death sentence for raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter was overturned, with the Court citing a lack of national consensus. The coalition's effort reflects ongoing debates about capital punishment's role in child rape prosecutions and aims to restore states' ability to seek the death penalty in such cases.