District Attorney Coty Wamp on Thursday told members of the Rotary Club that she supports a challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of the death penalty for aggravated child rape, which is the rape of a child 8 years old or younger.
She said the backing of Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti would help ensure success.
“We will take this all the way up to the Supreme Court again if we have to,” she said. “There is no punishment that is harsh enough.”
In 2008 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an older ruling that the death penalty cannot be used in sexual battery cases, but Governor Bill Lee signed a bill allowing capital punishment for aggravated child rape, which became state law in July 2024.
DA Wamp said a new partnership with the Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys program will bolster prosecution of child pornography cases in local federal courts, and she has already restored a dedicated child sexual abuse prosecutor position in District 11.
DA Wamp said crime and overdose fatalities in Chattanooga have decreased in the last year. But she said more juveniles are being tried as adults – young people are more violent than the year before – and criminal court is seeing about half as many cases as it should, meaning too many plea deals are keeping violent criminals on the streets.
After trying only nine cases in 2019 and a “dead period” during the pandemic years, 2024 saw 20 cases tried. But 2025 has already seen four cases, signifying a hard stance on the most violent criminals: gang leaders, sex offenders and drug dealers, she said.
“We are on track to do just about 30 this year,” DA Wamp said.
She paused to add that gang violence in Chattanooga is real.
“Anybody that tells you any different is not telling the truth,” she said.
Deaths from fentanyl, heroine and meth were 162 in 2024, down from 195 in 2023.
“That kind of decrease is substantial,” she said. “There is some light at the end of the tunnel.”
But juvenile court transferred 18 to be tried as adults in 2024, up from 14 in 2023.
“At some point the District Attorney’s office is going to say enough is enough,” she said.
Deterrence is the county’s best strategy against young criminals, she said, and later named Partnership for Families, Children and Adults, which provides emergency, stability and self-sufficiency services, as the most powerful organization in keeping young people from violent crime.
DA Wamp said speaking for silent victims is the best part of her job. She said that from the beginning of her career she has made a point to break from tradition and add a layer of memorial to set court proceedings.
“You do get the opportunity to speak for the victims, often,” DA Wamp said.
Most recent would be preserving the memory of Jasmine Pace, whose murderer, Jason Chen, was convicted of first-degree murder Jan. 20 this year and sentenced to life in prison.
“I got to know Jasmine through her friends, through her family,” DA Wamp said.
“Justice was served in that case, and I am extra grateful,” she said, but “the victims will always matter more.” Ms. Pace was a victim of domestic violence, she said, a subject “we don’t often talk about.”
“It was a tough case for this community,” she said.
DA Wamp noted that her father, former U.S. Congressman Zach Wamp, was away serving as an emcee at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., but honored her mother, Kim Wamp, as a special guest.