Number: RS22844
Title: Capital Punishment: Constitutionality for Non-Homicide Crimes Such as Child Rape
Authors: Alison M. Smith, American Law Division 
Abstract: The United States has not executed any individual for committing a non-homicide crime since the United States reinstated the death penalty in 1976. However, this may change as several federal and state statutes authorize capital punishment for certain nonhomicide offenses such as treason, espionage, aircraft piracy, aggravated kidnapping, and drug trafficking in large quantities. More recently, some states have authorized the death penalty for some instances of child rape. The constitutionality of these statutes has been called into question in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's capital penalty jurisprudence. Earlier Supreme Court cases appear to stand for the proposition that the death penalty in the United States is largely restricted to crimes in which the defendant caused the death of another human being. During the present term, the Court may determine whether states may constitutionally impose the death penalty for any crime other than murder - in particular, whether a death sentence is a disproportionate penalty, under the Eighth Amendment, for raping a child. The Court will address these issues in its review of a Louisiana Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana.
Pages: 5
Date: March 21, 2008