Quote Originally Posted by Redleg View Post
Frankly the essence of the ruling is correct - elevating rape - even child rape to a capital offense is not portional to the crime.

Frankly the criminal justice system - ie the prisoners themselves do a better job of eaking out the punishment for child rapists
Proportionality is not for the SCOTUS to decide. A punishment is either cruel and unusual, or it is not- there's no sliding scale. Proportionality is completely subjective and is best left to the state legislatures and their criminal courts.

As I've said, using fuzzy standards like this, they could allow or disallow literally any punishment dependent only on their whim. Sure, flaying someone alive is cruel and unusual unless the crime is heinous enough- then it's fine.