By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – Governor Matt Blunt wants state lawmakers to make people convicted of child rape eligible for capital punishment.
The governor's proposal would apply to those who rape a child younger than 12.
The crime is already a capital offense in Louisiana and five other states.
A man accused of raping his 8 year old stepdaughter in 1998 was sentenced to death in Louisiana, and the U.S. Supreme Court is deciding whether that state's law is constitutional.
Blunt filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the Louisiana law.