WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday denied a rehearing on its ruling that struck down the death penalty for the crime of child rape.
While the court did modify the majority and dissenting opinions by adding a footnote to each, it still left intact its decision that the death sentence could not be imposed for that particular case nor could it be imposed for any other crime in which the victim did not die, Scotusblog.com reported.
In other action on the first day of the new term, justices added 10 cases to the docket. Seven involve criminal law questions, including the scope of the right to a speedy trial for a poor individual represented by a public defender, a test of proof requirements to show an enterprise under anti-racketeering laws and a request to clarify how federal courts handle prosecutors' violations of plea bargains when the violation was not raised at trial, Scotusblog reported.
Three cases involve environmental issues, such as requiring all companies that hat a role in dumping waste pay the full clean-up costs when liability could be divided, the federal government's duty to help Indian tribes protect mineral resources and whether Hawaii had the authority to sell lands without resolving native Hawaiians' claims to the land, the site said.
