The Supreme Court has issued an order requesting briefing on whether it should rehear Kennedy v. Louisiana, the case in which the Court held the death penalty to be an unconstitutional punishment for the crime of child rape. The basis for rehearing would be the Court's reliance upon the lack of a federal law providing for capital punishment for child rape as evidence for the existence of an emerging "national consensus" on the issue when, in fact, such a federal law actually existed (and had been adopted relatively recently). The Court's decision to seek briefing on the question of rehearing is heartening news, as I believe the Supreme Court needs to rehear the case if for no other reason than to restore the Court's tarnished credibility.

SCOTUSBlog has more here. Our prior posts on the possibility of rehearing in this case are here and here.