Death Penalty Rejected by SCOTUS

This is the latest in a series of cases in which the SCOTUS has rejected capital punishment. Today the Supreme Court held that child rapist could not be subject to the death penalty.  In 2002 the Supreme Court barred the execution of mentally retarded defendants, and in 2005 it banned the execution of people for crimes they committed before they were 18.  It appears that the Supreme Court is intent on limiting the death penalty to cases of first degree murder.

According to the ruling, although the rape of a child is a crime like no other, the death penalty is unique and not to be applied to these cases.  Only a minority of state have the death penalty for child rape.  “When the law punishes by death, it risks its own sudden descent into brutality, transgressing the constitutional commitment to decency and restraint,” Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority in finding this punishment violated the Eighth Amendment.

Two sides of Florida Penal System

Two very different stories from Florida’s prisons are in the St. Pete Times today.  First, it looks like some of the ladies are getting a little break from the rigors of incarceration via an etiquette class.  On the flip-side,  looks like there are more questions regarding the administration of Florida’s death penalty.  The 34 minute timeline recounting the execution is very uncomfortable to read.  It may make you think twice if you are in favor of the death penalty.  Both stories beg the question–
Is man a savage at heart, skinned o’er with fragile Manners?  Or is savagery but a faint taint in the natural man’s gentility, which erupts now and again like pimples on an angel’s arse?  ~John Barth, The Sot-Weed Factor, 1960