Death Penalty for Rape of Child Under Review

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WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether a state can execute someone convicted of raping a child, one of the few remaining crimes that does not require the death of the victim to result in capital punishment.

Patrick Kennedy, 43, was sentenced to die for the rape of his 8- year-old stepdaughter in Louisiana. He is one of two people in the United States, both in Louisiana, who have been condemned to die for a rape that was not also accompanied by a killing.

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Death Penalty for Rape of Child Under Review

The Supreme Court banned executions for rape in 1977 in a case in which the victim was an adult woman.

Kennedy's lawyers say the death penalty for child...

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