Executing juve­niles: It’s time for America to ban the practice

San Diego Union-Tribune

October 18, 2004

Editorial

Juveniles some­times com­mit hor­rif­ic crimes, some unimag­in­able even for adults. But all nations of the world except two — the United States and Somalia — refuse to put youth­ful offend­ers to death. Even Iran and Congo have repu­di­at­ed the prac­tice in recent years.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argu­ment in a Missouri case that may lead to the ban­ning of exe­cu­tions in this coun­try for those who com­mit such crimes before they turn 18. The court struck down cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment for per­pe­tra­tors age 15 or younger in 1988, rul­ing that exe­cu­tions amount­ed to cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The fol­low­ing year, how­ev­er, it upheld the death penal­ty for 16- and 17-year-olds.

When the court drew the line at 16 for exe­cut­ing mur­der­ers, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, writ­ing for the 5 – 4 major­i­ty, not­ed that a major­i­ty of the states still per­mit­ted exe­cu­tions for 16- and 17-year-olds. She said a nation­al con­sen­sus exist­ed against exe­cut­ing those under 16 but not those old­er. Since that rul­ing, six states have joined those that pro­hib­it exe­cu­tion of those under 18. Nineteen states still per­mit the death penal­ty for those under 18, and 22 exe­cu­tions of juve­nile offend­ers have been car­ried out since 1976. According to the American Bar Association, more than 70 are on death row right now.

In addi­tion to the nation­al-con­sen­sus stan­dard used in the 1988 and 1989 rul­ings, the court will con­sid­er research done in the inter­ven­ing years about the devel­op­ment of chil­dren’s brains. Health orga­ni­za­tions such as the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association filed friends-of-the-court briefs cit­ing research show­ing that exe­cut­ing those under 18 is to ​“hold them account­able not just for their acts, but also for the imma­tu­ri­ty of heir neu­tral anato­my and psy­cho­log­i­cal devel­op­ment.“

While one jus­tice in par­tic­u­lar, Anthony Kennedy, expressed skep­ti­cism over the men­tal devel­op­ment argu­ments against exe­cut­ing those under 18, there is lit­tle ques­tion that a nation­wide and world­wide con­sen­sus has devel­oped against exe­cut­ing those under 18. As states have done in this coun­try, nations around the world have moved in the same direc­tion. Today, the United States is the only nation with an orga­nized gov­ern­ment that has not rat­i­fied the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which pro­hibits exe­cut­ing juve­nile offend­ers.

While hold­ing young peo­ple respon­si­ble for their crimes, the United States must join the rest of the world in pro­hibit­ing the exe­cu­tion of those under 18.