revelarts
02-15-2024, 12:49 PM
‘Complete waste of taxpayer dollars’: Idaho legislators advance bill to execute child rapists in gamble that Supreme Court will uphold similar Florida law
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/complete-waste-of-taxpayer-dollars-idaho-legislators-advance-bill-to-execute-child-rapists-in-gamble-that-supreme-court-will-uphold-similar-florida-law/
Republican lawmakers in Idaho have proposed a new law that would allow certain sex crimes against children to be punishable by death. The move positions the state to join Florida in adopting a controversial measure that conflicts directly with Supreme Court precedent saying such executions would violate the Eighth Amendment.
Passed 57-11 mainly along party lines Tuesday, House Bill 515 amends the statute covering lewd conduct with child under age 12 with aggravating circumstances to carry a penalty of capital punishment. Co-sponsor Rep. Bruce Skaug, a Republican, has said that the death penalty would be used only for the most heinous cases such as repeat offenders. The bill next heads to the Idaho Senate for committee review.
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ACLU of Idaho spokesperson Rebecca De León said that litigating the constitutionality of House Bill 515 was “a complete waste of taxpayer dollars.”
“I highly doubt it will reach the Supreme Court because the Supreme Court has already ruled on this,” De León continued. “We already have laws in place that punish people that don’t violate their Eighth Amendment rights.
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/complete-waste-of-taxpayer-dollars-idaho-legislators-advance-bill-to-execute-child-rapists-in-gamble-that-supreme-court-will-uphold-similar-florida-law/
Republican lawmakers in Idaho have proposed a new law that would allow certain sex crimes against children to be punishable by death. The move positions the state to join Florida in adopting a controversial measure that conflicts directly with Supreme Court precedent saying such executions would violate the Eighth Amendment.
Passed 57-11 mainly along party lines Tuesday, House Bill 515 amends the statute covering lewd conduct with child under age 12 with aggravating circumstances to carry a penalty of capital punishment. Co-sponsor Rep. Bruce Skaug, a Republican, has said that the death penalty would be used only for the most heinous cases such as repeat offenders. The bill next heads to the Idaho Senate for committee review.
....
ACLU of Idaho spokesperson Rebecca De León said that litigating the constitutionality of House Bill 515 was “a complete waste of taxpayer dollars.”
“I highly doubt it will reach the Supreme Court because the Supreme Court has already ruled on this,” De León continued. “We already have laws in place that punish people that don’t violate their Eighth Amendment rights.