Capital Punishment
Juveniles and Capital Punishment
One of the most controversial issues in the rights of juveniles today is addressed in the question, "Should the death penalty be applied to juveniles"? For nearly a century the juvenile courts have existed to shield the majority of juvenile offenders from the full weight of criminal law and to protect their entitled "special rights and immunities." In the case of Kent vs. United states in 1996, Justice Fortas stated some of these "special rights" which include; Protection from publicity, confinement only to twenty-one years of age, no confinement with adults, and protection against the consequences of adult conviction such as the loss of civil rights, the use of adjudication against him in subsequent proceedings and disqualification of public employment (Kent vs. US). These “special rights and immunities “exist so that the justice courts can provide measures of guidance and rehabilitation for the child along with protection for society. However, there are some youths who are extremely dangerous and do not respond to attempts to reform themselves. Should These juveniles who perform the same malicious acts as some adult capital offenders be subject to the harshness of the criminal courts and the extreme punishment of the death penalty ?
The constitutionality of the juvenile death penalty reached a settlement in 1988 in the case of Thompson v. Oklahoma when four Supreme Court Justices reached the conclusion that: persons under sixteen years of age cannot be sentenced to death (Thompson v. Oklahoma). Justice Stevens, Brennan, Marshall, and Blackmun considered these important issues as they were deliberating on the case: (1) Does a national consensus forbidding executions of juveniles exist?; (2) the extent to which the laws of other Western European nations prohibit or permit the execution of juveniles, and the opinions of " respected professional organizations;" (3) the degree to which the juveniles should be held responsible for
One of the most controversial issues in the rights of juveniles today is addressed in the question, "Should the death penalty be applied to juveniles"? For nearly a century the juvenile courts have existed to shield the majority of juvenile offenders from the full weight of criminal law and to protect their entitled "special rights and immunities." In the case of Kent vs. United states in 1996, Justice Fortas stated some of these "special rights" which include; Protection from publicity, confinement only to twenty-one years of age, no confinement with adults, and protection against the consequences of adult conviction such as the loss of civil rights, the use of adjudication against him in subsequent proceedings and disqualification of public employment (Kent vs. US). These “special rights and immunities “exist so that the justice courts can provide measures of guidance and rehabilitation for the child along with protection for society. However, there are some youths who are extremely dangerous and do not respond to attempts to reform themselves. Should These juveniles who perform the same malicious acts as some adult capital offenders be subject to the harshness of the criminal courts and the extreme punishment of the death penalty ?
The constitutionality of the juvenile death penalty reached a settlement in 1988 in the case of Thompson v. Oklahoma when four Supreme Court Justices reached the conclusion that: persons under sixteen years of age cannot be sentenced to death (Thompson v. Oklahoma). Justice Stevens, Brennan, Marshall, and Blackmun considered these important issues as they were deliberating on the case: (1) Does a national consensus forbidding executions of juveniles exist?; (2) the extent to which the laws of other Western European nations prohibit or permit the execution of juveniles, and the opinions of " respected professional organizations;" (3) the degree to which the juveniles should be held responsible for
Cited: "Furman v. Georgia." TheFreeDictionary.com. 05 Mar. 2001. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Furman v. Georgia>. "Kent v. United States." LII. 19 Jan. 1966. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0383_0541_ZS.html>. Taylor, Robert W., and Eric J. Fritsch. Juvenile Justice: Policies, Programs, and Practices. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print. "Thompson v. Oklahoma | Capital Punishment in Context." Welcome to Capital Punishment in Context. 22 Feb. 2008. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.capitalpunishmentincontext.org/resources/casesummaries/thompson>.