The Supreme Court ruled today that the death penalty cannot apply to people who rape children. It was a tight, 5-4 decision, but the main gist is that you can't be killed for anything other than murdering someone (that's just in terms of crimes against other people, commit treason and you're still screwed). We've come a long way with death penalty thought—not that long ago, it didn't exist at all, let alone for crimes that didn't involve also ending someone else's life. At no point was it suggested to extend the eye-for-an-eye rationale of giving the death penalty to murders to help determine the punishment of rapists. For that at least, Patrick Kennedy (no relation) must be breathing a sigh of relief.

This was one of the three super important cases the court was hearing this term. The first gave habeas corpus rights to Guantanamo detainees. The third, to be released tomorrow, considers Washington, D.C.'s total ban on handguns. The liberals are 2-0 so far on the court, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of hope for them to go for the clean sweep. Haven't you heard, the entire District of Columbia is one well-organized militia.