In an unusual move, the negative reactions of presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama to a recent Supreme Court decision have been placed before the justices to support a request that the Court reconsider its ruling. The state of Louisiana included the candidates' statements in its latest filing seeking rehearing of Kennedy v. Louisiana, in which the justices said it is unconstitutional to execute those convicted of child rape when the victim survives.
Soon after that June 25 decision was handed down, a military law blogger noted that the justices and all the parties neglected to mention that Congress had recently passed legislation that calls for the death penalty in such cases under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Louisiana, arguing that the omission skewed the Court's assessment of the national consensus on the issue, asked the Court to take the almost unheard-of step of rehearing the case to take the new information into account.
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