Rapid City Journal

February 18, 2004

Editorial

Last week the state Senate reject­ed a bill that would have repealed South Dakota’s death penal­ty law while pass­ing a bill that removes cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment for indi­vid­u­als who com­mit­ted their offense when they were less than 18 years old. The juve­nile death penal­ty bill, SB182, passed the Senate, 23 – 11, and awaits a hear­ing in the House Judiciary Committee.

Federal law and 29 oth­er states have passed laws that pro­hib­it cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment for juve­nile offend­ers. Arguments against the juve­nile death penal­ty include the acknowl­edg­ment that youth under the age of 18 are not as mature in their deci­sion-mak­ing than adults. Youth 17 years of age and under are not allowed to vote, buy alco­hol or cig­a­rettes, make med­ical deci­sions, or enter into con­tracts, because they are con­sid­ered imma­ture. Why should they be exe­cut­ed for crimes com­mit­ted before soci­ety con­sid­ers them to be full adults?

It is some­times the case that pros­e­cu­tors seek to try juve­niles as adults because of the seri­ous­ness of their crimes and/​or past record. But pun­ish­ment for juve­nile defen­dants should not include the death penalty.

South Dakota should not allow cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment for juve­niles. The Legislature should pass SB182 and set a min­i­mum age for the death penal­ty at 18 years old.

Sources

Rapid City Journal