Alabama’s House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday that would allow death sentences for child rapists.
The proposed legislation was passed with an 86–5 vote and will now advance to the Alabama Senate.
The state’s current law classifies rape and sodomy in the first degree as Class A felonies, which are punishable by life in prison, according to the proposed bill.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2008 ruled that the death penalty for child rape is unconstitutional. Justices in the 5–4 decision in the case arising from Louisiana stated that the death penalty is not a “proportional punishment” for the crime and would violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Simpson said the proposed legislation was aimed at challenging the Supreme Court precedent. He stated that the justices will be less likely to deem it unconstitutional if more states passed legislation extending capital punishment for child rape.
“This is the worst of the worst offenses you can do,” Simpson said following the vote. “That’s something that the child has to live with for the rest of their life.”
Rep. Phillip Ensler, a Democrat from the state capital of Montgomery, suggested that passing a law that contradicts Supreme Court precedent could trigger legal challenges, which potentially burden taxpayers with litigation costs.
“It seems fiscally irresponsible to pass something that we’re going to have to ask taxpayers to have to defend yet again when people are having a hard time, at least in my district, paying for gas, paying for milk,” Ensler said.
