Alabama lawmaker pushing for death penalty in child rape cases – 'worst of the worst'

State Rep. Matt Simpson (R-Daphne) is optimistic his colleagues in the Alabama Legislature will join him in passing a bill that would enact tougher penalties for those convicted of raping a child. Much tougher penalties.

Simpson prefiled HB49 that would allow for the death penalty for certain persons convicted of raping a child. State lawmakers will consider the bill when they convene for the 2025 state legislative session.

According to the bill’s synopsis, “This bill would require that a person 18 years of age or older convicted of rape in the first degree or sodomy in the first degree when the victim is less than six years of age shall be punished to either death or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and if the offending person is less than 18 years of age sentenced to life imprisonment without parole or life.”

Simpson discussed the issue during a recent appearance on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program.”

“I do think that this offense, this crime, is the worst of the worst,” Simpson argued, “and sometimes the worst punishment is left for the people that commit the worst crimes. I don’t think you can rehabilitate someone that is committed an offense on a child under the age of six. I don’t think that you come back from that…So you I think it’s cruel to keep someone in prison for 50 or 60 years with no hope of ever getting out. Go ahead and give the death penalty. We shouldn’t have to pay for that person to live for 50 or 60 years behind bars.”

The lawmaker is hoping that Alabama will join several other states who have already passed similar laws.

“Florida has already begun a prosecution on this manner where they’ve already started the prosecution and requesting the death penalty through it,” he explained. “What we can show with this…is that we can show the Supreme Court when Florida files their brief, hopefully they can say it’s not just Florida that’s added on, it’s also Tennessee that’s added on. It’s also Alabama. There are also several other states that have filed bills recently to try to change and enact what we have to allow this to occur. You have bills that have been filed in Arizona, Idaho, Missouri, New Mexico, South Carolina and South Dakota.”

Simpson said overall he’s hopefully the Legislature can get this done next session.

“I hope,” he said. “I never count my chickens before the hatch. You never know what’s going to happen in a legislative session, how bills move. You know, from the response I’ve received from my colleagues, I feel good about it, and I feel good like we can keep pressing this.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee