Age at which Suspects are Tried as Adults in U.S. States
The Execution of Juveniles in the the United States in the Modern Era
The Execution of Juveniles in Other Countries Since 1990
AGE AT WHICH ALL SUSPECTS ARE TRIED AS ADULTS
(The death penalty is forbidden in all states for those under the age of 18 at the time of their crime following the Supreme Court's ruling in Roper v. Simmons (2005))
|
AGE
|
STATES
|
|
SIXTEEN AND ABOVE (3 states) |
Connecticut, New York, North Carolina |
|
SEVENTEEN AND ABOVE (9 states) |
Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin |
|
EIGHTEEN AND ABOVE (38 states plus the District of Columbia) |
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, plus the District of Columbia |
(source: Pamela Ferdinand, "Seventeen an Awkward Age, N.H. Juvenile Justice Finds," Washington Post, Mar. 27, 2002, citing the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs)
THE EXECUTION OF JUVENILES IN THE U. S.
The first execution of a juvenile offender was in 1642 with Thomas Graunger in Plymouth Colony, Massachesetts. In the 360 years since that time, a total of approximately 365 persons have been executed for juvenile crimes, constituting 1.8% of roughly 20,000 confirmed American executions since 1608. Twenty-two of these executions for juvenile crimes have been imposed since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. These 22 recent executions of juvenile offenders make up about 2% of the total executions since 1976.
JUVENILES EXECUTED IN THE UNITED STATES IN THE MODERN ERA (Since January 1, 1973)
|
Name |
Date of Execution |
Place of Execution |
Race |
Age at Crime |
Age at Execution |
|
Charles Rumbaugh |
9/11/85
|
Texas |
White |
17
|
28
|
|
J. Terry Roach |
1/10/86
|
South Carolina |
White |
17
|
25
|
|
Jay Pinkerton |
5/15/86
|
Texas |
White |
17
|
24
|
|
Dalton Prejean |
5/18/90
|
Louisiana |
Black |
17
|
30
|
|
Johnny Garrett |
2/11/92
|
Texas |
White |
17
|
28
|
|
Curtis Harris |
7/1/93
|
Texas |
Black |
17
|
31
|
|
Frederick Lashley |
7/28/93
|
Missouri |
Black |
17
|
29
|
|
Ruben Cantu |
8/24/93
|
Texas |
Latino |
17
|
26
|
|
Chris Burger |
12/7/93
|
Georgia |
White |
17
|
33
|
|
Joseph Cannon |
4/22/98
|
Texas |
White |
17
|
38
|
|
Robert Carter |
5/18/98 |
Texas |
Black |
17 |
34 |
|
Dwayne Allen Wright |
10/14/98
|
Virginia |
Black |
17
|
24
|
|
Sean Sellers |
2/4/99
|
Oklahoma |
White |
16
|
29
|
|
Douglas Christopher Thomas |
1/10/00
|
Virginia |
White |
17
|
26
|
|
Steven Roach |
1/13/00
|
Virginia |
White |
17
|
23
|
|
Glen McGinnis |
1/25/00
|
Texas |
Black |
17
|
27
|
|
Shaka Sankofa (Gary Graham) |
6/22/00
|
Texas |
Black |
17
|
36
|
|
Gerald Mitchell |
10/22/01
|
Texas |
Black |
17
|
33
|
|
Napoleon Beazley |
5/28/02
|
Texas |
Black |
17
|
25
|
|
T.J. Jones |
8/8/02
|
Texas |
Black
|
17
|
25
|
|
Toronto Patterson |
8/28/02
|
Texas |
Black
|
17
|
24
|
|
Scott Allen Hain |
4/3/03
|
Oklahoma |
White |
17
|
32
|
THE EXECUTION OF JUVENILES IN OTHER COUNTRIES
The death penalty for juvenile offenders appears to have been abandoned by nations everywhere in large part due to the express provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and of several other international treaties and agreements. Since 1990, juvenile offenders are known to have been executed in only seven countries: China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.
- Victor L. Streib, "The Juvenile Death Penalty Today: Death Sentences and Executions for Juvenile Crimes January 1973 - September 30, 2003" (2004)
REPORTED EXECUTIONS OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN OTHER COUNTRIES SINCE 1990
|
Country |
Name of Prisoner |
Age at crime (C), sentence (S), or execution(E) |
Year of Death |
Notes |
|
CHINA |
Zhao Lin |
16 (C), 18 (E) |
2003 |
China revised a law in 1997 forbidding the execution of defendants under age 18 at the time of the crime, but juveniles continuie to be executed due to insufficient care in determining the age of defendants. |
|
Gao Pan |
16 or 17 (C) |
2004 |
|
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO |
Kasongo |
14 (C/E) |
2000 |
In 2001, the death sentences of five children were commuted. At the time of writing there was a moratorium on executions in effect. |
|
IRAN |
Kazeem Shirafkan |
17 (E) |
1990 |
In December 2003, a bill to raise the minimum age to 18 was approved by the parliament, but must still receive the approval of the highest governing body in Iran, the Guardian Council, to become law. |
|
Male (name unknown) |
16 (E) |
1992 |
|
Male (name unknown) |
17 (E) |
1992 |
|
Male (name unknown) |
17 (E) |
1992 |
|
Ebrahim Qorbanzadeh |
17 (E) |
1999 |
|
Jasem Abrahimi |
17 (E) |
2000 |
|
Mehrdad Youssefi |
16 (C) |
2001 |
|
Mohammad Mohammadzadeh |
17 (C), 21 (E) |
2004 |
|
Salman |
17 (C) |
2004 |
|
Atefeh Rajabi Sahaaleh |
16 (E) |
2004 |
|
Iman Farrokhi |
17 (C) |
2005 |
|
Ali Safarpour Rajabi |
16 or 17 (C) |
2005 |
|
Mahmoud Asghari |
15 or 16 (C) |
2005 |
|
Ayaz Marhoni |
16 or 17 (C) |
2005 |
|
Farshid Farighi |
14 to 16 (C) |
2005 |
|
Name unknown |
17 (E) |
2005 |
|
Name unknown |
17 (C) |
2005 |
|
Rostam Tajik |
16 (C) |
2005 |
|
Majid Segound (Sagvand) |
17 (E) |
2006 |
|
Sattar |
17 (C) |
2006 |
|
Morteza M |
16 (C) |
2006 |
|
Naser Batmani |
uner 18 (C) |
2006 |
|
Mohammad Mousawi |
16 (C) |
2007 |
|
Sa'id Qanabar Zahi |
17 (E) |
2007 |
|
Mohammad Pezhman (Pejman) |
under 18 (C) |
2007 |
|
Amir Asgari |
under 18 (C) |
2007 |
|
Hossein Gharabaghloo |
16 (C) |
2007 |
|
Babak Rahimi |
17 (E) |
2007 |
|
Name unknown |
under 18 (C) |
2007 |
|
Name unknown |
under 18 (C) |
2007 |
|
Mohamad Reza Tork |
16 (C) |
2007 |
|
Makwan Moloudzadeh |
13 (C) |
2007 |
|
Amir Hoshang Fazlollahzadeh |
under 18 (C) |
2007 |
|
Javad Shojaee |
16 (C) |
2008 |
|
Mohammad Hassanzadeh |
16 or 17 (E) |
2008 |
|
Hasan Mozafari |
under 18 (C) |
2008 |
|
Rahman Shahidi |
under 18 (C) |
2008 |
|
Reza Hejazi |
15 (C) |
2008 |
|
Behnam Zare |
15 (C) |
2008 |
|
Gholamreza H |
17 (C) |
2008 |
|
Ahmad Zare |
17 (C) |
2008 |
|
Mola Gol Hassan |
17 (C) |
2009 |
|
Delara Darabi |
17 (C) |
2009 |
|
Ali Jafari |
17 (C) |
2009 |
|
Bahnoud Shojaee |
17 (C) |
2009 |
|
Mosleh Zamani |
17 (C) |
2009 |
|
NIGERIA |
Chiebore Onuoha |
15 (C) |
1997 |
|
|
PAKISTAN |
Name Unknown |
17 (E) |
1992 |
In July 2000, the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance was promulgated, abolishing the death penalty for anyone under 18 at the time of the crime. In July 2002 it was announced that 74 young offenders had been taken off death row. |
|
Shamun Masih |
14 (C) |
1997 |
|
Ali Sher |
13 (C) |
2001 |
|
Mutabar Khan |
16 (C) |
2006 |
|
SAUDI ARABIA |
Sadeq Mal-Allah |
17 (S) |
1992 |
|
|
Dhahian Rakan al-Sibai'l |
15 or 16 (C) |
2007 |
|
Moeid bin Hussein Hakami |
16 (E) |
2007 |
|
Sultan Bin Sulayman Bin Muslim al-Muwallad |
17 (C) |
2009 |
|
'Issa bin Muhammad 'Umar Muhammad |
17 (C) |
2009 |
|
SUDAN |
Mohammed Jama Gesmallah |
16 (C) |
2005 |
|
|
Imad Ali Abdullah |
17 (C) |
2005 |
|
YEMEN |
Nasser Munir Nasser al'Kirbi |
13 (E) |
1993 |
In 1994 Yemen abolished the death penalty for people under 18 at the time of the crime. |
|
Adil Muhammad Saif al-Ma'amari |
16 (C) |
2007 |
(Source: Amnesty International "Indecent and Internationally Illegal: The Death Penalty Against Child Offenders" September 2002, with updated information from Amnesty International: Execution of Child Offenders - Updated Summary of Cases.)
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