In Atlanta, Former President Jimmy Carter Said, This Ruling Acknowledges... Essay - 1,646 words

In Atlanta, former President Jimmy Carter said, This ruling acknowledges the profound inconsistency in prohibiting those under 18 years of age from voting, serving in the military, or buying cigarettes, while allowing them to be sentenced to the ultimate punishment (U.S. Department of State, 2005)The death penalty will always be a subject that is debated nation and world wide. There will never be a compromise between the two parties involved in the argument. Within capital punishment, there are many subcategories that are argued over. There is the death penalty for mentally ill patients, women, and juveniles. This paper will go into detail about the end of the death penalty for juveniles and the statistics of the death penalty for juveniles. A closely divided Supreme Court ruled March 1, 2005 that the death penalty cannot be imposed on youthful murderers who were not yet 18 years of age at the time they committed the crimes, ending a practice used in 19 of the U.S. states (U.S. Department of State, 2005).


The court had decided that the law compromised the eighth amendment in the constitution. The court came to the ruling with a 5-4 decision. In concluding that the death penalty for minors is cruel and unusual punishment, the court cited a national consensus against the practice, along with medical and social-science evidence that teenagers are too immature to be held accountable for their crimes to the same extent as adults (Lane, 2005). Although the courts take a step in the correct direction at this stage in the process, they have to acknowledge that they put this practice in effect in the first place. In 1989, the law was written to allow juvenile executions even though the public was told to treat children differently. Religious leaders and organizations have been powerful lobbies on both sides of the death penalty debate, even if congregation members don't always follow their leaders' teachings. In June the Supreme Court barred executions of mentally retarded people, and observers say it may again take up the question of juvenile murderers (ChewintheFat.com, 2002). The religious community plays an extremely large role in the choices of the death penalty debates.


While most religions oppose the death penalty, there are some that are for it. The bible states that there should be an eye for an eye. If this is so, the death penalty should be legal. There is a story where a brother kills his own brother and is not murdered after that. Most religions base their opinion on the Bible even though it is full of contradiction. The ruling was made to overturn a 1989 ruling that allowed the death penalty for ages 16 and up. Since the United States had been isolated on the issue worldwide, they wanted to put an end to it. In his 25-page opinion, Kennedy noted that until now the United States was the only country in the world that still gave official sanction to the juvenile death penalty, where 19 of the world's 39 executions of youthful offenders have been carried out since 1990.


The other countries that carried out such executions were Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo (U.S. Department of State, 2005). When reading through these counties, the United States is placing themselves with a group of counties that they would consider third world countries. If the United States is so supreme and better than these countries, why are they executing juveniles in the same way that these countries are. Since these countries are the only countries that practice it, the United States finds itself extremely out of place with the rest of the world. In 1988, the U.S.


Supreme Court held that execution of a youth who was less than 16 years old at the time of the crime was in violation of the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment (Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815, 1988) (WIENER, 2004). Before the ruling by the Supreme Court was made, there were 72 juvenile offenders on death row. When the Supreme Court made it illegal, all of these cases became void. The following is data that was compiled on September 15th, 2004. 2004 USA 0 juvenile offenders executed 2 juvenile offenders sentenced to death Rest of the world 4 juvenile offenders reportedly executed (Iran and China) 0 juvenile offenders reportedly sentenced to death 2003 USA 1 juvenile offender executed 2 juvenile offenders sentenced to death Rest of the world 1 juvenile offender reportedly executed 1 juvenile offender reportedly sentenced to death 2002 USA 3 juvenile offenders executed 4 juvenile offenders sentenced to death Rest of the world 0 juvenile offenders reportedly executed 0 juvenile offenders reportedly sentenced to death 2001 USA 1 juvenile offender executed 7 juvenile offenders sentenced to death Rest of the world 2 juvenile offenders reportedly executed 0 juvenile offenders reportedly sentenced to death There are only six countries in the entire world that practice the death penalty for juveniles. Between the 1980s and 1990s, the United States held t ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: death penalty, juvenile offenders, united state, united states, juvenile

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