Tennessee Senate advances bill to allow death penalty for child rape

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s GOP-controlled Senate has advanced legislation allowing the death penalty in child rape convictions. Republicans approved the bill on a 24-5 vote Tuesday. It must still clear the similarly conservatively dominant House chamber before it can go to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his signature. Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis enacted a similar bill nearly a year ago. Critics have raised concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court has banned capital punishment in such cases. Supporters in both states argue that the goal is to get the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the 2008 ruling that banned capital punishment in child sexual battery cases.