House Approves Bill Targeting Child Rapists
Alabama lawmakers advanced a bill Tuesday that would allow child rapists to be sentenced to death, despite current Supreme Court precedent banning capital punishment for such crimes. The Alabama House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the measure in an 86-5 vote, sending it to the Senate for consideration.
If enacted, the law would permit prosecutors to seek the death penalty for adults convicted of raping or sodomizing a child under 12.
A Strategy to Challenge Supreme Court Precedent
The 2008 Supreme Court ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana deemed the death penalty for child rape unconstitutional, stating it was not a “proportional punishment” and violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Republican Rep. Matt Simpson, the bill’s sponsor and a former prosecutor, said the legislation aims to push the Supreme Court to revisit the decision. He argued that “the worst crimes deserve the harshest punishment.”
Florida and Tennessee have already passed similar laws, and at least six other states are considering similar measures. Simpson believes that if more states adopt such laws, the Supreme Court may be compelled to reconsider its stance.
Opposition and Legal Concerns
Democratic lawmakers voiced opposition, citing both moral concerns and the financial burden of defending an unconstitutional law in court.
“It seems fiscally irresponsible to pass something that we’re going to have to ask taxpayers to defend,” said Rep. Phillip Ensler of Montgomery.
The approach mirrors the strategy conservative states used to overturn Roe v. Wade, where laws were passed to directly challenge Supreme Court precedent.
Declining Use of the Death Penalty
The push for expanding capital punishment comes amid a nationwide decline in executions. In 2024, the number of executions remained near historic lows, with only a handful of states carrying them out.
Alabama, however, has been at the forefront of death penalty cases, becoming the first state to execute an inmate using nitrogen gas.
Florida recently attempted to seek the death penalty for a man accused of sexually assaulting a minor under 12, but the defendant pleaded guilty and received a life sentence instead.
Simpson hopes Alabama’s move will strengthen Florida’s case and encourage other states to follow suit.
