"Court ruling weakens child-rape law in Texas," is Jason Embrey's report in the Austin American-Statesman.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday said states cannot use the death penalty to punish child rapists if the victim is not killed, erasing a key plank in the so-called Jessica's Law that Texas lawmakers passed last year.
The Texas law permitted the death penalty, or life in prison without parole, for the second conviction of aggravated sexual assault of a child younger than 14. The life-in-prison punishment will remain available to prosecutors.
And:
Although several state leaders criticized the Supreme Court's decision, it was especially a setback for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who put Jessica's Law at the top of his 2007 agenda.
"Supreme Court rejects death penalty for child rapists," by Diane Jennings in the Dallas Morning News.
When Texas' leading politicians called loudly for the death penalty for repeat child rapists last year, they knew there was a good chance the U.S. Supreme Court might find the provision unconstitutional. Legal experts told them so – repeatedly.
And on Wednesday the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in a Louisiana case, did just that, ruling that "the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child."
The decision didn't surprise many, said Shannon Edmonds, staff attorney for government relations with the Texas District and County Attorneys Association.
"A lot of legal experts had seen the writing on the wall from the Supreme Court," he said. "Whether those people, on both sides, agree with what the Supreme Court was going to do or not, didn't mean they didn't see it coming."
And:
State Sen. Rodney Ellis, the Houston Democrat who was the Senate's lone "no" vote against the death penalty for child sex offenders, said he's pleased with the Supreme Court ruling.
"At some point we have to decide where to draw the line on something being politically right but morally wrong," he said.
Politicians seeking to polish their tough-on-crime credentials may have been disappointed by the decision, but some victims' rights advocates were pleased.
"We join sexual assault coalitions across the country in applauding the Supreme Court's step toward ensuring that prosecutions of child sexual assault across our nation remain victim-centered and child-friendly in their approach," said a prepared statement released by the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault.
Some organizations had warned legislators the law could result in victims being unwilling to prosecute or perpetrators less likely to leave their victims alive.
"Most child sexual abuse victims are abused by a family member or close family friend," the statement from the Texas association said. "The reality is that child victims and their families don't want to be responsible for sending a grandparent, cousin or long time family friend to death row."
"States can't give death penaly for child rape," by Anna Tinsley in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Jessica’s Law boosts penalties for those who commit a sexually violent crime against a child younger than 14. For the first offense, it’s at least a 25-year prison sentence. For a second offense, the law calls for the death penalty. A provision in the law states that if the death penalty is struck down, predators can still be sentenced to life in prison.
No such cases were pending in Tarrant County, said Alana Minton, chief of the crimes against children unit in the district attorney’s office.
"DEATH PENALTY RULING'S IMPACT ON TEXAS," by Janet Elliott in the Houston Chronicle.
Although they will not face execution, criminals who sexually assault Texas children will serve longer sentences without the possibility of parole under provisions of Jessica's Law not affected by Wednesday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
No one in Texas has been sentenced to death under the provisions of the law, which went into effect last September.
The death penalty provision — reserved for a narrow category of repeat child sex offenders — received the most attention last year when state lawmakers debated the high-profile bill.
But the bill also made other significant changes, including mandatory minimum sentences and a new offense — continuous sexual abuse — designed to let prosecutors present cases involving a series of victims in one trial.
The San Antonio Express-News carries a slightly different version of Elliot's report as, "High court rules child rapists can't be executed."
Both Gov. Rick Perry and Dewhurst expressed disappointment in the high court ruling.
"Court rejects death penalty for child rape," is a Texas AP dispatch by Jim Vertuno, via the San Antonio Express-News.
The death penalty provision was championed by Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. He invited Mark Lunsford, a Florida man whose daughter Jessica was killed by a registered sex offender, to the Capitol to drum up support.
"Jessica's Law" passed the House and Senate with large majorities. Sensing a constitutional problem, however, the law was written in a way allowed the courts to strike down the death penalty provision without damaging other tough sentencing measures.
And:
State Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Houston Democrat, was the only senator to vote against the bill. He said the law played on the emotions of an awful crime.
Ellis said the state should not expand use of the death penalty at a time when dozens of inmates in Texas have been exonerated of their crimes with DNA testing.
"I always stress that I'm for the death penalty," Ellis said. "(But) I think it was just playing with people's emotions. What's wrong with locking people up and throwing away the key?"
Earlier coverage is here.
Comments