DEATH PENALTY-The Supreme Court Will Decided

Since capital punishment became integral again in 1976, only seven persons under the get along of 18, all convicted murderers, have been punish (Nguyen 403-404; Clary A20). In 1995, 42 insubstantials were on death row (Rosenburg 57). Al to a greater extent or less(prenominal) all of the juveniles executed in recent familys have committed in particular shocking murders, such as a 17 twelvemonth old found guilty in Arkansas of raping, robbing and kill an 85 year old woman and a 16 year old convicted in Texas in 1992 of raping and murdering an elderly nun ("Teen-Ager becomes" A20; Nguyen 403).

In the late 1980s, the ultimate Court decided by a five to quadruplet margin in Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 US 361 (1989), that capital punishment could be utilize to teen grow murderers who were sixteen years of age or older at the time a capital offense was committed. In Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 US 815 (1988), the Supreme Court decided, also by a five to four margin, that under the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and ridiculous punishment, an Oklahoma statute could not be constitutionally applied to sanction the execution of a person under the age of 16.

Legal and moral arguments against imposing the death penalty on minors. In its brief in the Stanford case, Amnesty International argued that " in that respect exists a well-developed and unequivocal legal and moral consensus prohibiting all nations from performance children for their crimes" (Harwood 95). Several international

Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 US 361 (1989).

2. The rising rate of violent crime among teenagers justifies having a guilty justice system under which 16 and 17 year old murderers are subjected to the death penalty and in both(prenominal) instances even at lower ages such as 14 or 15. Rosenburg says that "until a few years ago most people in the United States considered young people less dangerous than swelleds. Today that perception is reversed.

Young criminals are considered crazier, with more bravado and less conscience" (57). Earlier, the trend was toward establishing a discontinue juvenile justice system which "emphasized the diagnosis and discourse of [juveniles] . . . rather than the adjudication of their guilt" (Nguyen 403). In recent years, the public has tended to upgrade "the trend toward harsher penalties for serious juvenile criminals and the increased tendency to tape transport them to adult court where they are subject to adult penalties [including in the case of juvenile murderers] the use of execution" (Skovron, Scott & Culler 547). More than 40 states permit juvenile murderers to be tried in adult courts (Bishop, Frazier, Lanza-Kadure & Winner 171). Many polls show that large majorities ensure that "society was being too soft on juvenile crime ("Are we" 167).

Pennington, Judy. "Sister Helen Prejean." 60 Progressive, January 1996, 32-35.

Harwood, Lisa J. "Devolving Standards of Decency: The Death penalty for Juveniles." 2 International Legal Perspectives, Spring 1990, 87-102.

Bishop, Donna M., Frazier, Charles E., Lanza-Kadure & Winner,

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