Source: chattanoogan.com 2/7/25
District Attorney Coty Wamp on Thursday told members of the Rotary Club that she supports a challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of the death penalty for aggravated child rape, which is the rape of a child 8 years old or younger.
She said the backing of Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti would help ensure success.
“We will take this all the way up to the Supreme Court again if we have to,” she said. “There is no punishment that is harsh enough.”
The US Supreme Court has heard many cases involving the death penalty, including: [1]
Roper v. Simmons
In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty for people under 18 was cruel and unusual punishment. [1]
Atkins v. Virginia
This case ruled that states cannot execute people who are intellectually disabled. [2]
Furman v. Georgia
The Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment in the case of an accidental death. [3]
Kennedy v. Louisiana
The Supreme Court ruled that laws that imposed the death penalty for crimes other than murder were not in line with national consensus. [4]
Lockett v. Ohio
In 1978, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of jury discretion in capital sentencing. [5]
Ford v. Wainwright
The Supreme Court ruled that the Eighth Amendment prohibits executing people who are insane. [6]
Bucklew v. Precythe
The Supreme Court ruled against Russell Bucklew’s claim that Missouri’s lethal injection procedures were cruel and unusual punishment. [7]
Baze v. Rees
The Supreme Court ruled that a federal appellate court cannot increase a defendant’s sentence without an appeal or cross-appeal from the prosecution. [8]
When deciding death penalty cases, the Supreme Court considers the severity of the crime, how other jurisdictions punish similar crimes, and how the jurisdiction in question punishes other criminals. [9]
Generative AI is experimental.
[1] https://juvenilesentencingproject.org/us-supreme-court-decisions/
[2] https://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment8/annotation04.html
[3] https://www.oyez.org/issues/204
[4] https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/united-states-supreme-court-decisions-2007-2008-term
[5] https://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment8/annotation03.html
[6] https://capitalpunishmentincontext.org/resources/casesummaries
[7] https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/lethal-injection-cases
[8] https://supreme.justia.com/cases-by-topic/death-penalty-criminal-sentencing/
[9] https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/death_penalty
It sounds like a major reason behind the push for laws like this is that it leads to more cases going to trial and fewer plea deals being reached, both of which result in longer sentences and more convictions. They’re not stupid enough to not know there will be a legal challenge, but they know that even if overturned it will result in years of harsher punishments before the courts finally put an end to their laws.
Must be an election yr for the DA.
Just a quick question. What do you all think should be the punishment of someone who is not intellectually disabled who brutally rapes a child that is 8 years old or younger??
A lot of what has been posted is conjecture and personal feelings. Its comparable to people saying kids, even teen dont know any better and very immature when they do some things, but then if they commit a serious crime, they know better and are charged as an adult. I seriously doubt the Supreme court will agree with what florida wants, but I still find it funny people are seriously saying a sex crime, no matter how wrong it is, is somehow worse than actually murdering people, which is truly based in our American way of thinking and nothing more. I still think the brutal rape of a woman should not be seen as “not as bad”, and going by that logic, if a man was raped, he pretty much deserves it since hes a man and should be able to protect himself, which is also wrong. Longer sentences? Sure. but to sentence a crime to death when all murderers dont get death is wrong. My father was killed in cold blood and I can tell you first hand it affects a kid, especially when you can go back to your hometown and the killer only did about 20 years and is back on the streets, but then in American culture, crimes with guns are common place…..
” There’s no punishment that’s harsh enough”. Explains the registry to a T.