Legislation banning capital punishment for crimes committed by those younger than 18 has passed both the South Dakota House and Senate. The bill will now go to Governor Mike Rounds for signature into law. Republican Representative Hal Wick of Sioux Falls supported the bipartisan measure, stating, “I do have concerns about heinous crimes, but I don’t think it’s our place to destroy or forget the sanctity of life. Violent responses by the state beget more violence. The state must lead by example. Instead of encouraging a culture of death by killing criminals, we must seek punishment for crimes that respects the dignity of human life and at the same time serves human justice.” Internationally, the U.S. is one of only a handful of countries that allow the execution of juvenile offenders. (Argus Leader, February 25, 2004) Nationally, the federal government and 17 of the 38 states that have the death penalty ban the execution of the juvenile offenders. Rounds’ signature would make South Dakota the 18th death penalty state to abandon the practice. The U.S. Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of the juvenile death penalty this fall when it hears arguments in Roper v. Simmons. See DPIC’s Roper v. Simmons page. See Juvenile Death Penalty.