Rapist's sentence overturned; Judge relied on Bible

Excerpt from CNN.com:

An appeals court has overturned a rapist's 51-year prison sentence because a judge turned to the Bible while deciding his punishment.

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Arnett, 33, pleaded guilty to raping and molesting the 8-year-old daughter of his fiancee.

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In handing down the 51-year sentence in January 1998, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh Marsh referred to a Bible verse that says anyone who offends a child would be better off if "a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

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"We stress that this case is unusual in that a specific text in the Christian Bible was the determining factor in the judge's imposition of punishment," appellate Judge Mark Painter wrote in the court's 2-1 ruling.

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