A recent article in the Cornell Law Review argues that state death penalty laws that allow the death penalty for the crime of rape of a child where no death occurs may be unconstitutional.

Joanna H. D’Avella, NOTE: DEATH ROW FOR CHILD RAPE? CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT UNDER THE ROPER-ATKINS “EVOLVING STANDARDS OF DECENCY” FRAMEWORK, 92 Cornell Law Review 129 (2006) (available at http://organizations.lawschool.cornell.edu/clr/92_1/davella/92-1.pdf).