I know little about con law issues tied to the 8th Amendment, or variations in the historical application of the death penalty. But I agree with John Cole that the level of outrage over this decision is perplexing, and with Publius that death makes sense as a bright-line rule when it comes to when to apply capital punishment. I also agree with Scott Lemieux that Alito's argument about state legislators bowing down before dicta from past Supreme Court opinions is close to absurd. State legislators regularly pass laws that they are quite sure fly in the face of long-established Supreme Court precedents, much less dicta.
UPDATE: After reading the opinion, Publius changes his mind. He considers it a sloppy decision, and wrong.
Posted by armand at June 25, 2008 05:56 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Law and the CourtsAnd for whatever it's worth - this is a point on which I disagree with Sen. Obama. He's publicly stated he disagrees with this decision.
Elsewhere in Louisiana political news tied to sex offenders, Gov. Jindal has signed into law a bill that:
"on a first conviction of aggravated rape, forcible rape, second degree sexual battery, aggravated incest, molestation of a juvenile when the victim is under the age of 13, or an aggravated crime against nature, the court may sentence the offender to undergo chemical castration. On a second conviction of the above listed crimes, the court is required to sentence the offender to undergo chemical castration.
This bill also provides that a court may instead order a physical castration instead of the chemical castration. Convicted sex offenders who undergo castration must still serve their full sentence, as their treatment will not affect their sentencing."