Outrage Over the Supremes Child Rape Decision

You rarely see universal outrage about a Supreme Court decision. Usually one side of the argument or the other is unhappy, but in the Louisiana case in which some slug got the death penalty for a vicious child rape, the court's decision to spare the life of the rapist is drawing howls of protest nationwide:

NEW YORK — Angry politicians vowed to keep writing laws that condemn child rapists to death, despite a Supreme Court decision saying such punishment is unconstitutional.

"Anybody in the country who cares about children should be outraged that we have a Supreme Court that would issue a decision like this," said Alabama Attorney General Troy King, a Republican. The justices, he said, are "creating a situation where the country is a less safe place to grow up."

The court's 5-4 decision Wednesday derailed the efforts of nearly a dozen states supporting the right to kill those convicted of raping a child — and said execution was confined to attacks that take a life and to other crimes including treason and espionage.

At issue before the high court was a Louisiana case involving Patrick Kennedy, sentenced to die for raping his 8-year-old daughter in her bed, an assault so severe she required surgery.

In his majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote "the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child," despite the horrendous nature of the crime.

Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called the ruling "incredibly absurd," "a clear abuse of judicial authority" and said officials will "evaluate ways to amend our statute to maintain death as a penalty for this horrific crime."

Oklahoma officials said they, too, weren't ready to give up, and would "certainly look at what options we have," state senator Jay Paul Gumm said. "I think the people of Oklahoma have spoken loudly that this is one of the most heinous of crimes."

Supreme Court decisions used to be somewhat predictable, but lately if you want to predict an outcome you have to choose whatever decision would be worst for the country. If they rule the same way on the Heller DC gun case, there may be another revolution.

UPDATE: No revolution needed. The Supremes get it right on guns.