Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/07pdf/07-343Scalia.pdf
Page Number: 3.0

Cite as:  554 U. S. ____ (2008) 

3 

Statement of SCALIA, J. 

  Second,  JUSTICE  KENNEDY  speculates  that  the  Eighth 
Amendment may permit subjecting a member of the mili-
tary  to  a  means  of  punishment  that  would  be  cruel  and 
unusual  if  inflicted  upon  a  civilian  for  the  same  crime.  
That  is  perhaps  so  where  the  fact  of  the  malefactor’s 
membership in the Armed Forces makes the offense more 
grievous.  One can imagine, for example, a social judgment 
that treason by a military officer who has sworn to defend 
his  country  deserves  the  death  penalty  even  though  trea-
son by a civilian does not.  (That is not the social judgment 
our  society  has  made,  see  18  U. S. C.  §2381,  but  one  can 
imagine it.) It is difficult to imagine, however, how rape of 
a child could sometimes be deserving of death for a soldier 
but never for a civilian.