The Supreme Court ruled against the death penalty for child rape. Choice quotes: 

“The opinion reads more like an out-of-control legislative debate than a constitutional analysis,” said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican. “One thing is clear: The five members of the court who issued the opinion do not share the same ’standards of decency’ as the people of Louisiana.”

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“The harm that is caused to the victims and to society at large by the worst child rapists is grave,” Alito wrote. “It is the judgment of the Louisiana lawmakers and those in an increasing number of other states that these harms justify the death penalty.”

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But Justice Kennedy said the absence of any recent executions for rape and the small number of states that allow it demonstrate “there is a national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape.”

Justices are not supposed to divine “national consensus” but to interpret the law. To wit: is it unconstitutional for Louisiana to enact laws that meet its voters’ will. How many said executions have been carried out recently is irrelevant.

I know that much and I never went to law school.