The Forensic Nurse

This week is a historic week for the american judicial system.  The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case about Kennedy vs Louisiana , in an attempt to determine whether it is “cruel and unusual punishment” to execute someone who is convicted of child rape. The last execution of a rapist whose offense did not include murder was in 1964.

Patrick Kennedy, age 43,  is on Louisianas’ death row for the 2003 rape of his 8 year old stepdaughter,who initially lied to the police and said she had been assaulted by two boys in her garage and later recanted. Currently the only person in the United States on death row for a rape that did not include murder.

There are currently five states with laws on the books that allow the capital punishment of an individual for the rape of a child under the age of 12; Lousiana, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas and South Carolina.

RAINN, or the Rape Abuse & Incest National Network is one of the most nationally recognized names when it comes to rape and sexual assualt . They are the nations largest anti-sexual assault organization.

They are currently championing the “rape can happen any time” 24/7 campaign to help educate the public about the crime of rape.

 “Rapists don’t take off nights and weekends. Neither can we.”

National Sexual Assault Hotline
Among its programs, RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1.800.656.HOPE. This nationwide partnership of more than 1,100 local rape treatment hotlines provides victims of sexual assault with free, confidential services around the clock. The hotline helped 137,039 sexual assault victims in 2005 and has helped more than one million since it began in 1994.