The court holds that capital punishment given to Kennedy under the Louisiana law was not favorable. Capital punishment was excessive for the offense as the primary purpose was supposed to be retribution. Giving capital punishment for such a crime may not follow the child's victim's best interest (Kennedy v. Louisiana, 2008). Such is because many people of such offenses are done by people who are family members. The severity of the punishment would make family members not to be reporting rape cases whose victims are also family members.
The rationale of the decision is based on the intention of the Louisiana law. A law that permits the death penalty in a situation where a child was raped, but the crime did not intend to cause the victim's death is considered unconstitutional. There is a need for capital punishment to be restricted to a category that only involves serious crimes. Capital punishment is not proportional to the crime of child rape and will not fulfil the intended purpose of capital punishment.
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I agree with the rationale of the court's decision as capital punishment should only be applicable in crimes where there was a loss of life. The rape action did not cause the child's death, and neither was that the intended purpose, and thus, there is a need for relief. The court needs to evaluate the sentence under the constitution's eighth amendment (U.S. Const. amend. VIII). The amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment towards the convicted. No jurisdiction has convicted an individual of rape since 1964, and no individual has been convicted of homicide since 1963. Thus, a person's Louisiana sentenced to death because of rape lacks national consensus supporting the ruling since it is a nonhomicide offense.
Reference
U.S. Supreme Court. Kennedy v. Louisiana. (No. 07-343) 957 So. 2d 757.
U.S. Const. Amend. VIII. § 1
