By Adam Allington, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down the appeal of convicted murderer Michael Taylor of Kansas City.
Taylor was one of 10 death row inmates who lost their appeals on Monday. Taylor was convicted of raping and murdering a teen in Kansas City in 1989.
A strong proponent of capital punishment, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt pointed to last week's Supreme Court ruling in a Kentucky case as grounds for scheduling execution dates for some of Missouri's 46 death row inmates.
"The U.S. Supreme Court ruling on lethal injection allows the ultimate punishment to be administered and there is no real legal impediment to administering the ultimate penalty in our state," said Blunt.
Speaking in front of the St. Louis County Courthouse in Clayton, Blunt also called on state lawmakers to craft legislation that would make certain sex crimes against children punishable by death.
He's asked for a bill that would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty in cases of rape when the victim is younger than 12 years old.
"The evil predators that harm our children and rob them of their youth and innocence deserve the most serious punishment that we could possibly deliver, both as a matter of justice and deterrence."
The ACLU of Eastern Missouri opposes the governor's calls for executions, arguing that capital punishment is unfairly applied to the poor and uneducated.
They also point to 128 cases where prisoners were sentenced to death and later exonerated based on new evidence.