USA - Louisiana. Patrick Kennedy, the man whose conviction led the U.S. Supreme Court to ban the death penalty for child rape, was resentenced this morning to life in prison

Patrick Kennedy, the man whose conviction led the U.S. Supreme Court to ban the death penalty for child rape on June 25, 2008 (see), was resentenced this morning to life in prison. During a brief hearing, Kennedy appeared before Judge Ross Ladart of the 24th Judicial District Court to receive the mandatory life sentence. "Based upon the U.S. Supreme Court decision in this matter, effectively setting aside your death sentence, and the subsequent order of the Louisiana Supreme Court remanding your case to this court for resentencing, you are sentenced as followed, to wit: your custody is remanded to the Department of Corrections and therein you shall serve a life sentence without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence," Ladart, who presided over the 2003 trial, told Kennedy. Kennedy, 44, was convicted aggravated rape of a juvenile under age 12 and sentenced to die by lethal injection under a Louisiana law that allowed that punishment for that crime. The crime happened in March 1998. Kennedy raped an 8-year-old girl. (see also 23/08/2003; 11/09/2007; 12/12/2007; 09/04/2008)