According to Kennedy’s lawyers, his sentence violates the Eighth Amendment, which was designed to protect citizens from cruel and unusual punishment. Kennedy's lawyers also claim he was singled out because he is African American and state that 90% of past executions pertaining to rapes involved African American people.
“This court should pause before condoning a practice so heavily tinged with the scourge of racism,” Kennedy’s lead lawyer, Jeffrey Fisher, recently stated in an interview with the Associated Press.
Why Kennedy’s race should exclude him from execution remains unclear. According to court records, the child’s rape is estimated to have occurred sometime before 6:00 a.m. Kennedy’s 9-1-1 call was not placed until 9:18 a.m. If you do the math, the 8-year-old victim in this case suffered her own “cruel and unusual punishment” for at least three hours. That goes without mentioning the lifetime of pain she has had to suffer as a result of the acts committed by this monster.
"It's going to be justice," Lynn Ray, the victim's cousin, told CNN yesterday. "It's going to be that she can look forwards and not backwards, and not have to look over your shoulders, and one day see him. Or see him coming after her."
The court is expected to issue a ruling in the case by June.
