Articles

The Philadelphia Inquirer July 30, 2004 Editorial Stop the slow march to death row This nation shields 16-year-olds from the sex, violence and profanity of R‑rated movies. Yet it executes murderers of the same age — as though they were mature enough to answer fully for their crimes. Society says these teens cannot handle movie mayhem — nor drink, vote, or sign legal contracts — but that they’re as culpable as adults for serious criminal acts. Who thinks that’s a crazy proposition? Quite a…

Baltimore Sun July 27, 2004 Editorial THE SUPREME COURT has the chance this fall to step in and affirm that teenage criminals ought not be sentenced to death, because they are not old enough to be fully responsible for their judgment and their actions. The juvenile death penalty, in place in 19 states and actively used in seven, qualifies as “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, according to a Missouri appellate court ruling that the U.S. Supreme Court…

Kansas City Star July 27, 2004 Editorial Christopher Simmons was 17 and should have just graduated from high school at the time a Missouri jury sentenced him to death. A decade later, his sentence is the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case, scheduled for oral arguments in the fall. Justices would erase an outrage by abolishing the death penalty for people who commit crimes as juveniles. Besides the United States, only China, Pakistan, Iran and the Democratic Republic of the Congo permit…

Pensacola (FL) News Journal July 26, 2004 Editorial The impulse to kill is as old as the first organized societies. Examples of executions sanctioned by ancient communities can be found in Scriptures and oral traditions from every corner of the globe. An equally long-standing tradition, stretching from the beginning of civilization to our own day, is the recognition of the moral differences and expectations of juveniles and adults. If it were not for the erosion in our understanding of…

Daytona Beach News-Journal July 26, 2004 Editorial A first kiss, a first time behind the wheel, a first college-entrance exam — these are the experiences of teen-hood. Death row shouldn’t be one of them. The United States is one of just five countries that still executes offenders who committed murder when they were younger than 18. In this, it joins an infamous group of nations including Iran, the Sudan and China, reviled the world over for abusing their citizens. Even among so abhorrent a…

Birmingham (AL) News July 26, 2004 Editorial In a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, Alabama Attorney General Troy King wrote there’s “little room for doubt that at least some adolescent killers most assuredly have the mental and emotional wherewithal to plot, kill and cover up in cold blood. They should not evade full responsibility for their actions by the serendipity of chronological age.” Of course, society treats age as more than a matter of chance, or “serendipity,” as King calls it. A…

The Honolulu Advertiser July 25, 2004 Editorial Now, here’s a question: What do the nations of China, Congo, Iran, Pakistan and the United States have in common? The answer is these are the only four known countries in the world that allow the execution of juveniles for capital crimes. The human rights records of China, Congo, Iran and Pakistan are well known. Why is it that the United States would wish to join this list? The truth is that for the most part the United States has…

News & Observer July 24, 2004 Editorial Americans increasingly are uneasy over the frequency with which condemned inmates are found to be innocent or to have had trials that were tainted by prosecutorial or police overreaching. But for good reason, there’s an added layer of unease about sending people to the death chamber whose crimes were committed when they were juveniles. While there’s little sentiment for executing the rare child who goes so horribly astray as to commit murder, the issue…

News & Observer July 24, 2004 Editorial With its annual list of violator countries, the United States claims the title of defender of human rights, and given its heritage and standing in the world, the title is fitting. A chink in the claim, however, is that 19 states allow the execution of people who committed capital crimes at the ages of 16 or 17. True, that age bracket is on the cusp of what is typically considered adulthood. But there is no getting around the fact that 16- or…

The Virginian Pilot July 24, 2004 Editorial A broad swath of humanitarian, religious, medical, legal and governmental groups recently urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the death penalty for individuals whose crimes occurred before they turned 18. The five Supreme Court justices who disagreed in 2002, when the high court last weighed the matter, should consider carefully the evidence that standards of decency have evolved. No one disputes that Christopher Simmons, a Missouri inmate…