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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a murder victim's prior statements cannot be used against her killer because it would violate a defendant's constitutional right to confront witnesses who testify against him. The high court's 6-3 ruling was a victory for Dwayne Giles, who had been convicted by a jury in Los Angeles for the 2002 shooting death of his former girlfriend, Brenda Avie. He was sentenced to at least 50 years in prison. The court majority said the constitutional right to confront a witness applied even if the defendant was responsible for the witness...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that executing a Louisiana child rapist would be unconstitutional, concluding capital punishment is reserved for murderers. The ruling was a 5-4 decision.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that child rapists cannot be executed, concluding capital punishment is reserved for murderers. Patrick Kennedy, 43, was on Louisiana's death row for raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter. The ruling stemmed from the case of Patrick Kennedy, who has been on Louisiana's death row since 2003, when he was sentenced to be executed for raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion that "evolving standards of decency" in the United States forbid capital punishment for any crime other than murder. Execution of Patrick Kennedy, the justices ruled, would...

In a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court ruled that Capital Punishment for convicted child rapists was unconstitutional under the 8th Amendment tenant of Cruel and Unusual Punishment. Just Kennedy wrote the opinion for the majority stating that the use of Capital Punishment was: “not proportional for the rape of a child.” My question to Justice Kennedy is then, what IS proportional punishment for the rape of an innocent child? A slap on the wrist? A short prison stay followed by your name in a database full of other like minded perverts? What is taken from these children can never be...

The recent Supreme Court decision of Boumediene v. Bush concerning the habeas corpus rights of enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Naval Base illustrates the need for a president who will nominate jurists that follow the Constitution and not their own political ideology. For the first time, the Court has now extended U.S. constitutional rights to foreign nationals residing outside the country. What's all the more galling is that the recipients of this right were engaged in killing U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Read entire article here 

So we've turned over the deciding of political issues to the Supreme Court. We've even taken issues that are not political, like abortion, and made them political issues by granting the Supreme Court -- the Supreme Court actually taking the authority on its own to hear such cases. The rape decision here is sort of like this. Kennedy, Justice Kennedy, and the other four liberals are saying, (paraphrasing) "Look, the idiots in Louisiana don't know what they're doing. There is no consensus that child rape should result in death for the rapist, and besides, execution for child rape seems disproportionate...

Crime And Punishment: By 5 to 4, the Supreme Court has ruled capital punishment for child rapists unconstitutional. An Obama presidency will only expand the cruel and unusual majority that decides so many cases.Reasonable people can disagree as to whether the sexual assault of children, along with other despicable non-homicidal crimes — torture, say, or treason — warrant the death penalty. What is unreasonable is to dictate that the people, through their elected representatives, may not decide for themselves which of those horrific crimes deserve payment of the ultimate price. In Wednesday's Patrick Kennedy v. Louisiana ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy,...