(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter today urged the Senate to support his resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the case of Kennedy v. Louisiana was wrong.  Vitter’s resolution would also clarify that it is the sense of the Senate that the eighth amendment of the U.S. Constitution allows for the imposition of the death penalty for individuals convicted of the rape of the child.

         “The Supreme Court recently made the highly unusual move of asking the parties on both sides of the case to file court papers on the possible rehearing of the case,” said Vitter.  “My resolution would allow the Senate to express an opinion that matches that of the majority of Americans – that the court ruled improperly and that this ruling should be overturned.  Unfortunately, partisan objections blocked my efforts.”

         In July, the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Louisiana had overstepped its bounds in applying the sentence of death to Patrick Kennedy who was convicted of the brutal rape of his eight-year-old stepdaughter.  The court ruled that the imposition of the death penalty constituted “cruel and unusual punishment” and reversed the decisions of the lower courts. 

         However, there is a renewed controversy surrounding the ruling over whether the court was aware of a federal law that authorized the death penalty for child rape by military personnel.

         “The penalty of execution is reserved for the most heinous of crimes,” said Vitter. “The individuals that commit these acts of cruelty and violence on society’s most fragile deserve the harshest punishment, and I think that the Supreme Court made the wrong decision in this instance.”

         Vitter was joined on the resolution by U.S. Sens. Dole, DeMint, Coburn, Sessions, Crapo, Graham, Burr and Kyl.  The non-binding resolution offers the opinion of the Senate but does not constitute a law.