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Last updated on Thursday, June 26, 2008
(BLOOMINGTON) - This week, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the execution of rapists, even child rapists, is unconstitutional if there is no fatality, and now professors from the Indiana University School of Law are weighing in on the decision.
Both Professors Joseph Hoffman and Jody Madeira say they believe the decision was the correct one, and that it lends to the current trend of narrowing the use of capital punishment.
The decision struck down the law in Louisiana which would have sent Patrick Kennedy, convicted of raping his 8-year-old step-daughter in 2003, to the gallows, and has the same effect on similar laws in Georgia, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas and South Carolina.
One criticism of these laws that Professor Madeira mentioned was that it could lead to more non-reporting of rapes, since the victim could fear getting the violator executed.
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