In a fascinating, but highly complicated ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States voted 5-4 against the death penalty. What makes the case so complex is that this ruling pertains to sentencing someone to death for raping a child, assuming that the victim is not killed.

While not the prettiest route to getting rid of the death penalty in America for non-Federal committed crimes, it is an important step forward in banning this cruel and unusual practice.

“The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court. He was joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer.

The dissenters were Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., generally regarded as the conservative wing of the tribunal.