TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2008//
TI  - Grassroots death sentences? The social movement for capital child rape laws
JO  - Journal of criminal law and criminology
A1  - Bell, MC
SP  - 1
EP  - 29
VL  - 98
IS  - 1
N2  - Despite the Supreme Court's 1977 ruling in Coker v. Georgia declaring use of the death penalty for rape unconstitutional, there has been a recent explosion of state statutes making the death penalty available for the rape of a child. Numerous articles have tried to discern whether using the death penalty for child rape comports with the Coker holding often reaching divergent conclusions-but none has focused first on the socio-political setting that brought about these laws to inform their constitutional analysis. This Article attempts to begin contextualizing capital child rape statutes within a social movements framework. I argue that capital child rape statutes can be attributed to three movements: the popular movement to shame, fear, and isolate sex offenders; the feminist movement for harsher punishment of sexual and intra-familial violence; and the legal and political movement to punish attacks against vulnerable victims with death. Understanding these statutes in a richer way helps shed light on their potential constitutional problems.<p />
LA  - 
SN  - 0091-4169
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -