Tennessee's law enabling state to execute convicted child rapists now in effect — despite Democrat opposition

Tennessee has joined Florida in enabling trial judges and juries to put child rapists six feet under.

State House Majority Leader William Lamberth introduced House Bill 1663 in January. Republicans managed to pass the legislation in both chambers despite Democratic opposition.

State Rep. Aftyn Behn (Nashville), one of the bill's Democratic critics, insisted that the "death penalty is incompatible with the right to life." Behn, a pro-abortion advocate, suggested further that "it violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment and guarantees of due process of law and equal protection under the law."

Behn also suggested that that victims might be less likely to report crimes if they knew their abusers would be sentenced to death.

Lamberth responded to Behn, saying, "Directly from a survivor: 'My sister and I were abused by my father from a very young age. I just want you to know that I appreciate you pushing for the death penalty. I don't think it will stop people from telling about their abuse.' ... She's lived it. I trust her."

Florida Republicans faced similar opposition from leftists over their child-rapist death penalty law.

The leftist blog TruthOut denounced the legislation, suggesting the law was the result of an "anti-LGBTQ" legislative campaign and claiming further that the death penalty is "one of the most explicitly lethal manifestations of institutional racism and oppression." TheBody, an HIV resource blog, also suggested the legislation could be dangerous for LGBT people. Seattle Gay News expressed concern that the legislation could set the stage for the execution of persons who subject children to "gender-affirming" genital mutilations as well as those deemed to be "child groomers."

After Tennessee Republicans overcame the opposition of Behn and other Democrats, Gov. Bill Lee (R) ratified the legislation on May 9.

'If someone rapes one of our children, they forfeit their own life.'

Previously, an adult pedophile convicted of rape of a child aged 8-13 in the state would be looking at serving between 15-60 years in prison for a Class A felony. An adult pedophile convicted of aggravated rape of a child 8 or younger would necessarily receive life imprisonment without parole.

Now, in the first case of child rape, the sentence must necessarily be death, imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole, or life imprisonment. In the second case of aggravated child rape, the sentence must be death or imprisonment for life without parole.

If a jury cannot agree on a punishment, then the trial judge is to default to a sentence of life without parole for a child rapist.

The law also states that defendants with intellectual disabilities cannot be sentenced to death.

Ahead of his bill's passage, Lamberth noted, "We're going to protect our children in the state of Tennessee. If someone rapes one of our children, they forfeit their own life," reported the Tennessean.

"Life in prison for these evil people is simply too good," added Lamberth.

While the law went into effect Monday, it remains in a kind of limbo on account of Gov. Lee's moratorium on executions. In May 2022, Lee learned the state had not properly checked lethal drugs for bacterial contamination and called for an independent review. That said, Lee indicated the penalty remains on the table on a case-to-case basis.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Kennedy v. Louisiana that the Eighth Amendment prohibits states from executing child rapists in cases where the crime did not result and was not intended to result in the death of the child. Justices Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and the late Antonin Scalia dissented.

Justice Alito, who wrote the dissenting opinion, noted, "The Court today holds that the Eighth Amendment categorically prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for the crime of raping a child. This is so, according to the Court, no matter how young the child, no matter how many times the child is raped, no matter how many children the perpetrator rapes, no matter how sadistic the crime, no matter how much physical or psychological trauma is inflicted, and no matter how heinous the perpetrator’s prior criminal record may be."

Justice Alito stressed that the two reasons offered by the liberal majority on the court for this conclusion — that that there was a "national consensus" that the death penalty is not an acceptable punishment for child rape and that such a penalty is inconsistent with the "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" — were "unsound."

After poking holes in the majority's opinion, Alito underscored that the Eighth Amendment is not a "one-way ratchet that prohibits legislatures from adopting new capital punishment statutes to meet new problems" and that "child rapists exhibit the epitome of moral depravity," inflicting "grievous injury on victims and on society in general."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who ratified House Bill 1297 last year imposing the death penalty for pedophiles who commit sexual battery against children under 12, made expressly clear that he is prepared to take the law "all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule judicial precedents which have unjustly shielded child rapists from the death penalty and denied victims and their loved ones the opportunity to pursue ultimate justice against these most heinous criminals."

Tennessee state Sen. Jack Johnson (R) also expressed confidence in April that the high court would rule in favor of the child-rapist execution bill he supported.

"Given the makeup of the current court, there is a strong possibility that Kennedy v. Louisiana could be overturned," wrote Johnson. "I feel very certain that the Supreme Court believes there is a strong, compelling state interest to protect children, and we believe this Court will support Tennessee's efforts."

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