NEW VOICES: Bush and Kerry Express Views on Executing Juvenile Offenders

In a forum host­ed by the New Voters Project, U.S. Presidential can­di­dates George Bush and John Kerry expressed their views on exe­cut­ing juve­nile offend­ers. ​“Federal law pro­hibits exe­cu­tion of those under 18 when the offense was com­mit­ted, and I see no rea­son to change that statute,” said President Bush. Senator John Kerry stat­ed, ​“I do not think that exe­cut­ing minors is good pol­i­cy.” (Knight-Ridder, October 17, 2004). On October 13^th, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argu­ments in Roper v. Simmons, a case that will deter­mine whether the exe­cu­tion of juve­nile offend­ers is con­sti­tu­tion­al. See Juvenile Death Penalty. See also, Positions on Capital Punishment of the 2004 Presidential Candidates.