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Supreme Court to Hear Child Rapist's Death Penalty Appeal

Executions limited to murderers since 1964

By Zach Samalin,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 4, 2008 5:18 PM CST

(Newser) – The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the case of a Louisiana man sentenced to death in the brutal rape of his 8-year-old stepdaughter. His attorneys say Patrick Kennedy is "the only person in the United States who is on death row for a non-homicide offense." A 1977 Court decision put a stop the death penalty for acts short of murder.

If upheld, the sentence would end a 43-year trend of executing only murderers, although before 1963, capital punishment was common for rapists, especially black males, the Los Angeles Times reports. "This court should pause before condoning a practice so heavily tinged with the scourge of racism," said an attorney for Fitzgerald, 43, who is black and has an IQ of 70.

The steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building are shown in this 2000 file photo in Washington. The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether a state can execute someone convicted of raping a child, one of the few remaining crimes that does not require the death of the...
The steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building are shown in this 2000 file photo in Washington. The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether a state can execute someone convicted of raping a child,...   (Associated Press)
People stand in line outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, Oct. 1, 2007. (AP Photos/Susan Walsh)
People stand in line outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, Oct. 1, 2007. (AP Photos/Susan Walsh)   (Associated Press)
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine answers questions after signing a bill which replaces the state%u2019s death penalty with life in prison without any possibility of parole, Monday, Dec. 17, 2007 at the State House in Trenton, N.J. The bipartisan legislation was approved by the state senate and assembly...
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine answers questions after signing a bill which replaces the state%u2019s death penalty with life in prison without any possibility of parole, Monday, Dec. 17, 2007 at the...   (Associated Press)
The electric chair used for carrying out death penalties in New Jersey is seen at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, N.J., in this Jan. 17, 1972, file photo. New Jersey will become the first state in four decades to abolish the death penalty under a measure lawmakers...
The electric chair used for carrying out death penalties in New Jersey is seen at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, N.J., in this Jan. 17, 1972, file photo. New Jersey will become the first state...   (Associated Press)
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