the U. S. Supreme Court will decide if a man convicted of raping his 8-year old stepdaughter...

the U. S. Supreme Court will decide if a man convicted of raping his 8-year old stepdaughter, but not killing her, can be put to death.
A Louisiana court sentenced Patrick O. Kennedy to death, but his lawyers say the sentence is cruel and unusual punishment. He was convicted in 2003 for the March 2, 1998 aggravated rape of his then eight year old step-daughter, then sentenced under a 1995 Louisiana law that allows the death penalty for the rape of a child under the age of 12. (see Aug. 23, 2003).
The Supreme Court banned executions for rape in 1977 but in that case the victim was an adult woman.
Now the court will consider if a child rapist can be put to death.
Five states allow it now, and Missouri is considering it. But no one has been executed for a non-homicide crime in this country in more than four decades.