Senate panel calls for death penalty for rapists of children

Nothing like wasting the time of the legislature with a bill that is known to be unconstitutional. This is nothing more than GRANDSTANDING, someone wants the public's attention, obviouly he is running for some office in the near future, and that is thr real reason for this bill.

3-18-2010 Oklahoma:

OKLAHOMA CITY — A Senate panel on Wednesday passed a measure calling for the death penalty for certain sex offenders despite concerns that the legislation runs afoul of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

House Bill 2965 would allow for the death penalty for someone convicted of raping a child age 6 or younger if the perpetrator had been convicted of a felony previously for which the punishment included a term of 10 years or more in prison.

The measure would not apply to a parent, guardian or someone who has custody of a child.

Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, the measure’s House sponsor, said that in child-custody cases, all sorts of things can be alleged. The exclusion was designed to prevent people involved in custody cases from facing the death penalty based on possibly false accusations.

Sen. Richard Lerblance, D-Hartshorne, said the measure runs counter to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a Kentucky law that imposed the death penalty for the rape of a child.

In that 2008 decision — in Kennedy v. Louisiana — the court held that a death sentence for someone who raped but did not kill a child and who did not intend to assist another in killing the child was unconstitutional.

Lerblance said that although raping a child is “dastardly,” the nation’s high court has ruled on the issue. He said the bill is plainly unconstitutional and that lawmakers have sworn to uphold the U.S. Constitution.

“How in good conscience can you ask us to vote on a bill like this?” he asked.

Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, the measure’s Senate sponsor, said the makeup of the court has changed since the 2008 decision.

Duncan added that the measure is more narrowly written than a 2006 Oklahoma law that also was struck down by the 2008 high-court ruling.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and the Judiciary sent HB 2965, which already has passed the House, to a hearing before the full Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee. ..Source.. Barbara Hoberock