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Justice Department Admits Snafu in Death Penalty Case

Posted Jul 3, 2008, 07:25 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

The U.S. Justice Department has admitted it erred when it failed to inform the U.S. Supreme Court that a law adopted in 2006 authorized the death penalty for child rape in military cases.

The solicitor general’s office did not file a brief in the case, Kennedy v. Louisiana, the New York Times reports. “We regret that the department didn’t catch the 2006 law when the case of Kennedy v. Louisiana was briefed,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

Justice Department lawyers weren’t the only ones who missed the fact. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and the authors of 10 Supreme Court briefs also failed to notice, the Times reported yesterday. Kennedy wrote the… Continue reading...

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Title: Justice Department Admits Snafu in Death Penalty Case



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