Will the Supreme Court Rehear the Death Penalty for Rapists case

In The New York Times on Friday July 11th, there is a short article about the efforts of 85 members of Congress who are seeking a rehearing from the United States Supreme Court. The Court in its ruling that the death penalty for those who rape children violated the 8th Amendment relied on current federal and state law. Included in the ruling was the fact that there was no federal law that provided the death penalty for a child rapist. After the ruling was issued, it was revealed that the Code of Military Justice, which is federal law, does in fact provide for the death penalty when a child is raped. In 2006 Congress revised the sex-crimes section of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and added rape of a child to its death penalty eligible crimes.

It will be interesting to see if the rehearing is granted, but the probability is that it will not be. The reference to federal law was a very small part of a very long opinion and this author does not think that it would reverse the decision.