Arkansas has enacted a new law under Senate Bill 375, signed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, that permits the death penalty for the rape of a minor.
The law stipulates that individuals over 18 convicted of this crime can face either the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole. For those under 18, the punishment is life with the possibility of parole after 20 years.
If the law is deemed unconstitutional, the charge will revert to a Class Y felony, carrying a minimum sentence of 25 years.
The legislation challenges the precedent set by the 2008 Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana, which ruled that imposing the death penalty for child rape, where the victim did not die, violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The Arkansas law asserts that the Supreme Court’s decision was erroneous and suggests that broader state adoption of similar laws might have influenced the court’s ruling.
This legislative move aligns Arkansas with other states like Florida, Tennessee, and Idaho, which have enacted or plan to enact similar laws.
The bill was supported by 25 sponsors in the Arkansas legislature.
