Entries tagged with “Kennedy v. Louisiana”
May 11, 2026
At Suggestion of the Trump Administration, Mississippi Enacts New Capital Sexual Battery Law, Openly Defying U.S. Supreme Court Precedent
On April 8, 2026, the Mississippi Legislature enacted Senate Bill 2821, creating the new offense of “capital sexual battery” and authorizing the death penalty for the sexual abuse, or attempted sexual abuse of a child under 12 years of age that results in “injury to the child’s sexual organs.” Mississippi Governor Tate Reaves approved the legislation, which will take effect July 1, 2026. With its passage, Mississippi joins Florida (2023), Tennessee (2024), Idaho (2025), Oklahoma (2025)…
Feb 19, 2025
Alabama House Joins Florida and Tennessee to Advance Unconstitutional Expansion of Death Penalty that Advocates Say Would Harm Children
On February 11, 2025, the Alabama House of Representatives voted 86 – 5, with nine abstentions, in favor of a bill that would expand the use of the death penalty to those convicted of the rape or sodomy of a child under the age of 12. This bill will be headed to the state Senate. If passed, the law would directly violate United States Supreme Court precedent established in Kennedy V. Louisiana (2008), which found the death penalty an unconstitutional form of punishment for the rape of a child…