Representative Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, and Senator April Weaver, R-Brierfield, announced on Thursday that they have officially pre-filed the “Child Predator Death Penalty Act” for consideration in both chambers during the 2026 Legislative Session, with 23 Republican senators and 52 Republican House members already joining as cosponsors.
“Speaker Ledbetter and Pro Tem Gudger have assured us that quick passage of this legislation will be a top priority during the 2026 regular session,” Simpson and Weaver said in a joint statement. “Once this bill is enacted and passes court muster, predators who abuse the most innocent among us will be eligible to receive the punishment they deserve — execution in Holman prison.”
Originally sponsored in the Alabama House during the 2025 session, the legislation allows prosecutors to request the death penalty for those convicted of raping or sodomizing children younger than 12 years old.
Under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the death penalty is currently applicable only in cases involving the loss of life—such as murder, robbery in which an individual is killed, and others—but Simpson and Weaver are confident that passing their law in Alabama will force the court to reconsider its precedent.
Florida, Tennessee, Idaho, Oklahoma and Mississippi are among the states that have enacted similar laws in a direct challenge to the narrow 5–4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Louisiana, which found that executing child predators was “unusual punishment” because so few states imposed the death penalty for such offenses.
The filing of the most recent version of the Child Predator Death Penalty Act follows on the heels of a sex trafficking ring revelation in Bibb County that involved abuse of children as young as three years old.
