BREAKING NEWS: US Supreme court: Bans death in juvenile case

[doxieone]

Just on CNN.

Involves case when the suspect was only 16 when he was charged with murder.


EDIT:

TOSSES OUT ALL CASES INVOLVING JUVENILE KILLERS!!!!

[JI7]

1. GREAT news

is this the United States supreme court or the State supreme court ?

[doxieone]

2. No link yet.

[doxieone]

3. US Supreme court... I hope I heard right because CNN

only had it on for 10 seconds. and will be back with info.

[JI7]

5. thanks, do you know what the vote was ?

[SW FL Dem]

27. 5-4 Kennedy wrote the majority opinion n/t

[Julius Civitatus]

55. Who were the 4 justices that voted pro-killing?

Let me take a wild guess:

Rhenquist
Scalia
Slappy Thomas

and.... maybe the wild card would be O'Connor

What do I win?

[Fridays Child]

4. SCOTUS, I think.

We'll have to see how broad the scope of the decision is.

[Say_What]

73. Amnesty's Press Release

March 1, 2005
Death Penalty: Amnesty International USA: Decision in Roper v. Simmons Removes US from List of Nations that Execute Juvenile
Offenders (Washington, DC) – Today Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, released the following statement regarding the United States Supreme Court's decision in Roper v. Simmons, which determined that sentencing juvenile offenders to death is unconstitutional:

Today, the Court repudiated the misguided idea that the United States can pledge to leave no child behind while simultaneously exiling children to the death chamber. Now, the US can proudly remove its name from the embarrassing list of human rights violators that includes China, Iran, and Pakistan—nations that still execute juvenile offenders. It can take pride in knowing that it is now in the company of the honorable nations that abandoned this antiquated practice years ago.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/document.do?id=7A4B11B161D548EA85256FB70056CBBB

[hue]

104. FINALLY!

I have been ashamed that I live in a country that sends children to the death chamber under any circumstance!

[Red State Rebel]

115. Let's just hope the next juvenile murder isn't you or someone you know.

He bragged before he did it that he could get by with it because of his age and he did.

[Medium Baby Jesus]

127. What a stupid pointless post.

Red state rebel indeed.

[Red State Rebel]

133. I am familiar with this case on a personal level

Unless these situations are personal to you, it's easy to pass them off. It's one thing to stand back and make a blanket statement, another altogether when it involves people you know.

For a nearly 18 year old to brag about doing this the week before saying he could get by with it because of his age is a horrific. The supreme court just gave a free pass to every 17 year old and under thug who decides to kill someone.

This young man hog tied this woman, duct taped her head, beat her then he and his accomplice carried her out onto a railroad bridge and threw her - still alive - into the river below. Within a year, her husband died from heart trouble - they had been high school sweethearts adn he was never able to forgive himself for not being home to protect her (he drove over the road).

I drive by the home that Shirley Crook was taken from several times a week and I have never passed it without thinking of her. She was not just a statistic, murdered by another statistic. She was a wife and mother murdered by a premeditating thug who knew exactly what he was doing.

Christopher Simmons will live out his life in prison with television,video games, access to visit his family and educate and better himself. Shirley Crooks daughter and other family members have to live with the fact that their mother and father are both gone because of this animal.

[northzax]

6. SCOTUS- about fucking time

wheee! now it's just Sudan, North Korea and Libya! We're out of the club!

on edit, sorry, I forgot Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and China!

[RevolutionStartsNow]

7. That's good news (nt)

[Pirate Smile]

8. link

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7051296/

Justices abolish death penalty for juveniles
5-4 decision affects 70 cases
BREAKING NEWS

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Constitution forbids the execution of killers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes, ending a practice used in 19 states.

The 5-4 decision throws out the death sentences of about 70 juvenile murderers and bars states from seeking to execute minors for future crimes.

The executions, the court said, were unconstitutionally cruel.

This report will be updated as details become available.

[JI7]

10. 5-4 decision means a change in one justice can turn it around

i'm guessing the 4 were Scalia,Rehnquist,Thomas, and either Kennedy or O'Connor.

[Pirate Smile]

16. Kennedy wrote for the majority

Justice Anthony Kennedy (news - web sites), writing for the majority, cited the fact that most states don't allow the execution of juvenile killers and those that do use the penalty infrequently. The trend, he noted, was to abolish the practice.

"Our society views juveniles ... as categorically less culpable than the average criminal," Kennedy wrote.

-snip-
The four most liberal justices had already gone on record in 2002, calling it "shameful" to execute juvenile killers. Those four, joined by Kennedy, also agreed with Tuesday's decision: Justices John Paul Stevens (news - web sites), David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg (news - web sites) and Stephen Breyer (news - web sites).


Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia (news - web sites) and Clarence Thomas (news - web sites), as expected, voted to uphold the executions. They were joined by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (news - web sites).

[JI7]

26. can you understand what Scalia is saying here?

"In a dissent, Scalia decried the decision, arguing that there has been no clear trend of declining juvenile executions to justify a growing consensus against the practice.

"The court says in so many words that what our people's laws say about the issue does not, in the last analysis, matter: 'In the end our own judgment will be brought to bear on the question of the acceptability of the death penalty,' he wrote in a 24-page dissent.

"The court thus proclaims itself sole arbiter of our nation's moral standards," Scalia wrote."

[Ediacara]

33. Ironically enough

"The court thus proclaims itself sole arbiter of our nation's moral standards," Scalia wrote."

This is what Scalia has wanted the court to be since he was appointed, has he not?

[JI7]

41. yes, that's why it confuses me

i'm wondering if he was really objecting to the court deciding on what is moral.

he should at least come up with an opinion that doesn't conflict with many of the things he has said about other things.

[Viking12]

58. He's miffed 'cuz the Court isn't deciding in favor of HIS morality

He could care less about the Court deciding morality as long as it is the Morality endorsed by the RW moral crusaders.

[Pirate Smile]

40. He is bitching because they took the decision away from the states.

and he doesn't believe there is a trend to abolish the practice like Kennedy stated.

Kennedy wrote - "most states don't allow the execution of juvenile killers and those that do use the penalty infrequently. The trend, he noted, was to abolish the practice."

[zipplewrath]

62. What Scalia is saying

  He has it so wrong.  The court was not using "its own
judgement",
nore is it acting as the "sole arbiter".  Quite the
opposite they
were citing the extensive expression of the people, through
their state laws, on this subject.  And how he can claim with
a
straight face that there is "no clear trend" is
beyond me.
We're down to 19 states, and a half dozen countries in
general.
The very reason it was before the court was BECAUSE of the
trend.

[MissB]

63. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Tsiyu]

71. Welcome Zipplewrath!

This is the best news. When society contemplates killing 12-year-olds, society has lost its grip and its morality.


Go jump in one of those healing orgies you're all about, Scalia.

And bite my ass. :grr:

[JerseygirlCT]

89. Holy cow!

And the GOP decries "activist" judges? How about autocratic, activist judges?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

28. I can't believe Sandra Day O'Connor voted with them on this

[doxieone]

9. UPDATE: ALL JUVENILE CASES THROWN OUT !!!!

Just on cnn.

Involves 16 and 17 year olds.

[Career Prole]

11. Yahoo AP link up now...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=2&u=/ap/20050301/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_death_penalty

:toast:

[doxieone]

12. 5 to 4 was the vote.

[Ediacara]

17. I'm shocked

no really... I am :-)

[Protagoras]

42. I tend to measure my shock against the fact that

the court seems to throw us social bones on issues that have little larger impact, while either evading or ruling for those things that are, at their core, Imperialistic and Corporatist...

It provides the illusion of balance. But in fact it does not seem to do much these days to challenge the over-arching social structure.

I'm happy as hell that we aren't going to continue to put adolescents to death in this country (unless you count 18 year old soldiers)...but I feel like it's a very deliberate quarter-measure, used to molify a few people so they can continue to support the larger machine of greed, corruption, and death.

And Scalia can bite my liberal ass with his perpetual hypocracy. He's the most wannabe activist judge that has ever sat on the bench.

[Danmel]

101. I thought Scalia was such a devout Catholic

Shouldn't he be the first to advocate elimination of the death penalty? Such hypocrisy...it really does stagger the mind.

[Eloriel]

112. Yeah, but he's one of those fascist Catholics,

the Opus Dei cult.

[Pirate Smile]

29. Here is some of the story

-snip-
It was the second major defeat at the high court in three years for supporters of the death penalty. Justices in 2002 banned the execution of the mentally retarded, also citing the Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishments.

The court had already outlawed executions for those who were 15 and younger when they committed their crimes.

Tuesday's ruling prevents states from making 16- and 17-year-olds eligible for execution.

-snip-
Juvenile offenders have been put to death in recent years in just a few other countries, including Iran (news - web sites), Pakistan, China and Saudi Arabia. All those countries have gone on record as opposing capital punishment for minors."

[Misunderestimator]

13. Just saw that in a news alert... Here's the MSNBC Link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7051296/

WOW! WOW! WOW!

[Charles19]

14. Good decision (n/t)

[Ediacara]

15. Tosses them out completely, or just tosses out the sentence?

[Misunderestimator]

23. COMPLETELY... "Justices abolish death penalty for juveniles"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7051296/

"WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Constitution
forbids the execution of killers who were under 18 when they committed
their crimes, ending a practice used in 19 states.

The 5-4 decision throws out the death sentences of about 70 juvenile
murderers and bars states from seeking to execute minors for future
crimes.

The executions, the court said, were unconstitutionally cruel."

[Ediacara]

31. Uh, the excerpt says the opposite

In other words, it sounds like the convictions still stand, but the death sentences are all that were banned.

[Misunderestimator]

39. Sorry, but I thought that was what you were asking...

It outlaws all of the death sentences.

[Ediacara]

43. I dig it

Everything's becoming so clear :-)

[What Is This Crap]

51. Ironically

the Multistate Bar Exam just tested on this issue last wednesday, where we had to pick out the death penalty that is ok, and there was a juvenile sentenced at 15.

[What Is This Crap]

52. Ironically

the Multistate Bar Exam just tested on this issue last wednesday, where we had to pick out the death penalty that is ok, and there was a juvenile sentenced at 15.

[Pirate Smile]

34. It throws out the death sentence, not the finding of guilt. None of the

articles mention how they will decide what the sentence will be for the 70 cases the decision effects.

[napi21]

18. Jeff Tubin on CNN just said how the same court has changed.

Several years ago, the same court was all in favor of the death penalty, and this decision indicates how society has changed and the members of the court have changed their thinking as well.

[still_one]

19. WOW, the "Christian Right" is going to be pissed

that they won't be able to kill minors

[Career Prole]

20. Yahoo AP link now updated with more details...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=2&u=/ap/20050301/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_death_penalty

[bspence]

21. Rock on! n/t

[soleft]

22. Robertson's going to wear out his pant knees praying tonight

[northzax]

24. Has anyone actually been executed for such a crime?

does anyone know? any 17 year olds who have actually been executed?

[NewHampshireDem]

32. I don't believe that is the issue ...

They don't execute 17 year-olds, but people who were 16 or 17 when they commited their crimes. They were executed as adults for crimes committed as minors.

[northzax]

46. right, I understand that

but has anyone been executed for a crime committed as a juvenile? basically, has anyone actually been subject to the ultimate irreversible penalty that is now unconsitutional?

[ET Awful]

79. Yes, people have been executed for crimes commuted as juveniles

Amnesty International tracks such things:

In fact, for the years 1990-1998, the US executed more juvenile offenders than any other nation for which AI has records:

http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGACT500111998

[northzax]

80. thank you, looks like 9 of them

but luckily, now that the supreme court has ruled their sentences to be unconsitutional, we can change them and set things right...what? we can't bring someone back to life after we kill them?

[Pirate Smile]

47. They were juveniles when they committed the crime, not when executed.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=27&did=203#execsus

Yes, people have been executed for crimes they committed as juveniles. There is a list at the link. It shows their age when the crime was committed and their age when executed.

[underpants]

25. Looking at my desk calendar I see that it is the 21st Century

Welcome.

[Career Prole]

35. LOL! Oops...

...they forgot to turn the page!

[Say_What]

76. US and Somalia haven't ratified Convention on the Rights of the Child

The United States and Somalia are the only countries in the world that have not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/juveniles.html

[underpants]

So we've got that going for us

Which is nice.

:eyes:

[Viking12]

109. Did Scalia get a bowl of soup with that dissent?

Looks good on him though....:eyes:

[underpants]

113. Thomas voted the same as Scalia and Rhenquist

If you are as SHOCKED by that as I am......... :eyes:

[NewHampshireDem]

30. CNN story

http://us.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/01/scotus.death.penalty.ap/index.html

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Constitution forbids the execution of killers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes, ending a practice used in 19 states.

The 5-4 decision throws out the death sentences of about 70 juvenile murderers and bars states from seeking to execute minors for future crimes.

The executions, the court said, were unconstitutionally cruel.

It was the second major defeat at the high court in three years for supporters of the death penalty. Justices in 2002 banned the execution of the mentally retarded, also citing the Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishments.

<more>

[lebkuchen]

36. One less issue the US has/had in common with Iran and Saudi Arabia

Those that believe in killing juvenile offenders are up for Chief Justice~.

[johnnie]

37. There is no doubt that georgie is steaming right now

I bet he is really pissed off (and drunk of course).

[CBHagman]

105. Ironically, he's been prancing around promoting...

...his FAITH-BASED INITIATIVE. It's curious that someone who shows no real signs of having a heart for serving other people is always hammering away at how the federal government must give money to faith-based programs. But the government has long done that (e.g., for Catholic Charities, hospitals, etc.), so it rather obscures the issue.

Besides, when he's asking for cuts in programs that serve the poor, then turning around and asking for more (and permanent) tax cuts for the wealthiest, then asking the rest of us to dig in our pockets for donations and find free time to volunteer, he just comes off as another plutocrat. It's more of that dismissive "the private sector will have to do more" shtick we already heard 20 years ago from Reagan.

It's all very well for us to tutor an immigrant in English, give boxes of oatmeal to the parish food drive, and work in the soup kitchen, but huge, appalling problems -- such as the lack of affordable housing -- are not being dealt with by this administration. Faith without works is dead. (Book of James)

[johnnie]

121. Yes, but he is such an obvious puppet, it's sickening

The sad thing is that his followers really think he is "leading". This administration had one goal and they had it handed to them on a silver platter on 9-11. The rest of their time spent is nothing but "playtime".

[hippiechick]

38. Thank you, Goddess ... for a little bit of sanity.

Finally.

[DeaconBlues]

44. About damn time!

How are things looking as far as the mentally-impaired (developmentally disabled) are concerned? Does anyone know of any progress in this area?

[opstachuck]

50. in response to your question, from the ap story...

"It was the second major defeat at the high court in three years for supporters of the death penalty. Justices in 2002 banned the execution of the mentally retarded, also citing the Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishments."

[cal04]

45. Kennedy joins more liberal justices

Justices were called on to draw an age line in death cases after Missouri�s highest court overturned the death sentence given to a 17-year-old Christopher Simmons, who kidnapped a neighbor in Missouri, hog-tied her and threw her off a bridge. Prosecutors say he planned the burglary and killing of Shirley Crook in 1993 and bragged that he could get away with it because of his age.

The four most liberal justices had already gone on record in 2002, calling it �shameful� to execute juvenile killers. Those four, joined by Kennedy, also agreed with Tuesday�s decision: Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, as expected, voted to uphold the executions. They were joined by Justice Sandra Day O�Connor.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7051296/

[Renew Deal]

48. This sounds like a good thing.

I'd love to know the details.

[4_Legs_Good]

49. CHEERS!!!!

Wooo hooooo!!!

We're finally off that list of progressive nations like Syria and Saudi Arabia that put kids to death!

Wooo hoooo hooooooooo!!!

Thank you Kennedy!

david

[Hepburn]

53. Does anyone have a link to the full opinion? TIA n/t

[amjucsc]

122. go to yahoo's homepage...

Last time I checked the story was at the top of their news ticker. A link to the decision on Findlaw should be right below the main text for the story.

[Renew Deal]

54. Why is it cruel and unusual to kill children and retarded people

and not everyone else? What's the next step?

[redqueen]

61. Hopefully a wholesale ban on the death penalty.

[northzax]

70. well, I think the basic idea is that

children and 'retarted' (there has to be a better word, but I don't know one right now) people are not considered to be as capable of either understanding the consequences of their actions or assisting in their own defense.

Basically, the death penalty, as applied in the US is getting so tortured and convoluted that it would be a farce if it didn't include killing people. We are so intent on keeping this ancient relic of retributory punishment that we have constructed these incredible rationales and regulations so that it meets our modern societal norms.

Personally, I feel the Death Penalty is a useless, antiquated and unneccesary punishment. But if we're going to have it, let's not be all tortured about it. you kill someone, intentionally, you die. that is an effective death penalty. Anyone who is convicted of first degree homicide should die. And therefore everyone who is convicted of first degree murder should die. This contortionist approach is dehumanising for us as a society, we work so fucking hard to kill people it's absurd and lottery like. So if we're gonna do it, let's do it. If we think it's ok for the government to kill people (and most americans actually do which saddens me) then let's get to it.

[Warren Stupidity]

91. there is the small issue of the irredeemable nature of the death penalty

You may object to the convoluted process, but the now scores of people exonerated from death row probably have a different view of this.

Here is a clue: DAs make careers over executions. Juries are pre-selected to weed out every last one of your peers who is against state-sanctioned murder. Evidence is routinely manufactured and suppressed. I hope you never fall into the jaws of the machine, but if you do, you will be thankful that us liberals have made it so damned ridiculously difficult for them to fry your sorry ass.

[northzax]

96. if you read closer, you will find that I oppose the death penalty

in all forms. the very fact that we need so many rules and regulations to protect people from the DP means it is absurd. Any penalty that people are really comfortable with should be easy to apply and not need safeguards.

We cannot apply something in a patchwork, unfair way. if the death penalty is reasonable to use, it must be used on everyone convicted of the same crime.

It's not a deterrent cause it isn't used enough or quickly enough. You want a deterrent? Firing squad the morning after being convicted of First Degree murder, no exceptions. That is a deterrent.

alas, http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html">Jonathan Swift, come back to us, a nation turns it's lonely eyes to you.

[Warren Stupidity]

99. I understood what you posted

you oppose the dp and you think we ought to speed up the process to make it a better deterrent. Hmmm... seems a bit conflicted to me.

[northzax]

100. then, I posit, you didn't understand at all

[Warren Stupidity]

108. obviously not

It seems that I am grossly misinterpreting your position:


Personally, I feel the Death Penalty is a useless, antiquated and unneccesary punishment. But if we're going to have it, let's not be all tortured about it. you kill someone, intentionally, you die. that is an effective death penalty. Anyone who is convicted of first degree homicide should die. And therefore everyone who is convicted of first degree murder should die. This contortionist approach is dehumanising for us as a society, we work so fucking hard to kill people it's absurd and lottery like. So if we're gonna do it, let's do it. If we think it's ok for the government to kill people (and most americans actually do which saddens me) then let's get to it.


Why on earth would I think that your position here is that you are against the death penalty but think that (as long as we have it) we ought to speed up the process to make it a better deterrent?

[northzax]

110. maybe this will help clarify things

http://www.bartleby.com/61/78/R0107800.html

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ReductioadAbsurdum.html

[NNN0LHI]

56. What about the children the US has already given the death penalty to?

What do we do about them I wonder?

Don

[opstachuck]

60. Maybe we could bake them a cake? and then bomb Iran in their honor? n/t

[amjucsc]

123. If you mean defendants on death row...

...convicted for crimes they committed before they were 18, then their sentences will be automatically commuted, as the decision was retroactive.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

57. did my heart good to hear this today....maybe there is still a shred......

of decency/humanity left in the USSC system and glimmer of hope for our future

[MaineDem]

59. Excellent! (nt)

[onehandle]

64. Non-humans outraged.

"The best argument yet for going straight to the so-called "nuclear option" in the Senate, re: the replacement of Supreme Court justices between now and the end of '08.
Agreed. The SC has gone highly liberal, running on politics, and if EVER TERM LIMITS SHOULD BE APPLIED, the SC members should clealy be replaced periodically. I will say the SC is out of control now. THEY ARE MAKING TOO MANY POLITICALLY-DRIVEN DECISIONS when they should be ONLY interpeting THE LAW."
_____________________________________

There is no such thing as "to young" regarding the equal application of justice. One crime should equate to one punishment. The only just punishment for murder is the death of the actor.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1353383/posts

[XanaDUer]

75. They are interpreting the law, assholes

and what, pray tell, is the "nuclear option"?

[Patiod]

119. I disagree w/the Freeper-- there is such a thing as 'to young'

I have trouble considering arguments made using sloppy grammar. I assume the logic is equally faulty.

[Judi Lynn]

126. It prooves you can't justify the d.p. in the case of some Freeps

They simply aren't mentally capable of understanding "to" much.

[deadparrot]

128. Was wondering when we were going to hear the fun at FR. :) nt

[mountainvue]

65. It's a good day

for democracy. This is the best news we've had in a while, IMO.

[high density]

66. Damn activist judges!

[GOPBasher]

67. That's great news. I'm agnostic on the death penalty in general, but

I think any sensible person should be against its use on minors.

[Shadoobie]

68. Brain Development of minors

There was some research published in the past regarding thebrain development of children. It demonstrated that the part of the brain involved with decision making did not fully develop until the late teens (18-19). This provided evidence that minors may do things without having the complete ability to rationalize the implications. I wonder if this was part of the basis for the SCOTUS decision.

I looked up the article:
From: Science, Vol 305, Issue 5684, 596-599 , 30 July 2004
Link (if you have access): http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/305/5684/596

Greg

[Kagemusha]

69. Pity they're plenty bright to commit brutal crimes.

But then again they claim humans are to be treated different from animals, don't they... so being able to commit something doesn't equal full responsibility. If you follow that theory. (I happen to)

[WildClarySage]

95. And that's exactly why they should never be tried as adults.

How a state like SC can decide that a 12 year old accused perp can be tried as an adult is beyond me.

[Say_What]

72. Juvenile Death Penalty Banned by U.S. Supreme Court

Well it's about f*ck'n time.

Predictably, Rehnquist, O'Connor, Thomas, and Scalia vote for executing juvenille offenders.

<clips>

March 1 (Bloomberg) -- A divided U.S. Supreme Court outlawed executions of murderers who were under 18 at the time of the crime, saying the practice violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The justices voted 5-4 in a Missouri case to bar a penalty that had been legal in 19 states. Today's ruling reversed a 1989 Supreme Court decision that had allowed executions of 16- and 17- year-old killers.

``Juvenile offenders cannot with reliability be classified among the worst offenders,'' Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court in Washington. He pointed to the ``stark reality that the United States is the only country in the world that continues to give official sanction to the juvenile death penalty.''

John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and David H. Souter joined the majority. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia dissented.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a0vyM934eT58&refer=us

---

From Amnesty International

<clips>

The Death Penalty Gives Up On Juvenile Offenders

An almost universal prohibition exists on the execution of persons who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime.

Since 2000, only five countries in the world are known to have executed juvenile offenders: China, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iran, Pakistan, and the United States. Pakistan and China have abolished the juvenile death penalty, but there have been problems in nationwide compliance with the law.

In August 2000, the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights resolved that the execution of people who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime “is contrary to customary international law.” A principle of customary international law is a general practice accepted as law. It is binding on all countries, regardless of which treaties they have or have not ratified.

The United States and Somalia are the only countries in the world that have not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/juveniles.html

[gulfcoastliberal]

74. YES!

Now if only we could get the friggin death penalty abolished.

Still, this is great news. The death penalty is a barbaric act that has no place in civilized society. Add in the fact of overzealous prosecutors and fabricated crime scene evidence, plus the number of DNA exonerations of those sentenced to death all should paint a clear picture that the state should be no arbiter of life and death.

[ET Awful]

77. It's about F'in time!

I just heard this in the car on the way back to the office right now.

All death penalties against minor offenders have now been commuted, and no future death penalties may be sought for juvenile offenders.

BEAUTIFUL. We finally aren't in the minority of nations of the world that still kill kids.

[jbnow]

78. Wonder if Texas will change

and allow option of a sentence life without parole. Right now juries are informed they'd be eligible for parole in 40 years if they don't get the death sentence.

MSNBC just said we were the last nation to change this...that even Iran and the other countries had recently outlawed execution of juvenile offenders. Don't know if that is true but either way, what fine company we were in. Did we have ourselves on that axis of evil list?

Must be our moral authority.

[Warren Stupidity]

81. maybe the USC can bring the dead ones back to life?

The ones that they already explicitly allowed to be killed? Huh?

How the fuck do they sleep at night?

[Swede Atlanta]

82. Damn Activist Judges!

I'm sure the RW is already going into overdrive on their rhetoric and will cite this as further example of activist judges. I've always wondered how the SCOTUS could ever not equate termination of someone's life with "cruel" punishment. It is, short of torture, about the cruelest punishment I can think of.

[imenja]

83. link to New York times article and text of the decision

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/01/politics/01cnd-scot.html?hp&ex=1109739600&en=1042460ab48186e2&ei=5094&partner=homepage



Text of the decision
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01mar20051115/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/03-633.pdf

This is the best news in a very long time!

[Poor Richard Lex]

86. link to transcript of oral arguments

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/03-633.pdf

[CheshireCat]

84. Well, I'll be!

Could this be a sign that the US is flirting with becoming a civilized nation?

Opposition to the death penalty was one of the first issues on which I actually took action. Over the years, I have been disgusted to see the blood lust grow in America. I CANNOT understand the mindset of those who think trying a child as an adult and sentencing that child to death is appropriate in a civilized nation.

Is there anyway, short of a constitutional amendment, that Congress could override the Supreme Court on this issue?

[Southern Dem 2005]

85. No. Congress cannot override the Supreme Court

absent a Constitutional amendment.

[Warren Stupidity]

87. well they can do an end run around the current court

by making sure that every new justice is all in favor of killing post-birth childrem for any reason at all and all against killing pre-birth children for any reason at all.

They've got the power, the only question is will they use it.

But just hypothetically how would they word the amendment that made executing children constitutional?

My guess: The Defense of Children Amendment.

The bill would be worded to prohibit execution of people who commit crimes while they are under the age of three (pick your favorite number) and in doing so legalize the execution of everybody over that age.

[Peregrine]

88. look for the barbaric states to change what a juvenile is

by granting majority rights to 16 and 17 year olds.

[WildClarySage]

97. They won't do that.

Because that would fuck up all their parental notification/parental consent abortion laws.

[amjucsc]

124. Actually the case expressly outlaws executions for anyone under 18

So they can do an end run around the decision that way.

[BornLeft]

90. Why is it when this oppressive govt

seems to consume me, the SCOTUS do something totally unexpected. Maybe, just maybe the system can eventually work depite those who try to undo it.

[killbotfactory]

Oh heavens!

Now we're all going to be slaughtered by savage mobs of juvenilles who are empowered by the fact that the courts can't sentance them to death! Society is going to collapse! Next thing you know, they'll ban being able to stone your children to death for being rude to you! Oh please won't you save us Jesus!

[Politicub]

92. Wow!

I'm speechless. This is the right decision.

:bounce:

[Jack_DeLeon]

93. I disagree with this.

[Warren Stupidity]

94. thanks for sharing (nt)

[Mr.Green93]

98. An adult life

is worth less than a minor? Why can they be killed by the state?

[northzax]

102. cause it's fun

ok, not really, but it allows us to dehumanize the worst of us and therefore pretend that the people who commit such acts are less than human, not like us at all.

[Tektonik]

103. WOW!

I'm suprised to see the SC decide in this manner, and I'm glad.

[Chicago Democrat]

106. Let's hear it for minor victories!!!

5 out of 9 might be human after all!?

[mod mom]

107. Oops better watch out SCOTUS you might anger kkkarl. nt

[mutus_frutex]

111. What I want to know is:

Where are now those fuckers that wanted to excommunicate Kerry? Why don't they go after Scalia?

Asshole hypocrites..

[Red State Rebel]

114. If anyone deserved the death penalty over this it is Chris Simmons

He openly bragged that he could do this and get by with it. He was right.

He and his accomplice took a woman deathly afraid of heights, duct taped her head, hog tied her hands and feet and threw her off of a bridge - still alive - into a river in the dead of night. All because she had the audacity to wake up and see them burglarizing her home.

This happened near my home and I am familiar with a few of the people involved in this case.

[girl gone mad]

130. I wouldn't call being sentenced to life in prison...

"getting away with it".

[Red State Rebel]

134. He will visit his family, watch tv and play video games.....

Shirley Crook will not.

[Bariztr]

116. A moment of clarity

As someone who works as a criminal defense lawyer I am glad to see that this abhorrent practice has finally ended "the greatest country in the world."

And I am not dissuaded by the "I hope it doesn't happen to you" argument. The way I see it, if someone killed one of my family, unless you let me personally throttle the life out of them, no one else should have that privilege.

[mordarlar]

117. Great news. One step at a time. ...

:7 :toast: :7

[Raiden]

118. I can't believe it!

The Supreme Court actually ruled in favor of justice! What next, the High Court legalizing gay marriage? Reaffirming abortion rights?



Great news!

[harmon3]

131. Great news.

Doesn't anyone find it odd though that we are overjoyed at this news yet hope for "reaffirming abortion rights"?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

120. This is wonderful news!

I'm surprised by it and thrilled at the same time. To my knowledge Texas was the leader in minor executions (no surprise there). So, for me this victory is all the sweeter. :)

[genieroze]

125. As a real Christian, I say Amen. eom

[girl gone mad]

129. Good.

I'm a different person than I was when I was 16.

To charge a minor as an adult and allow the state to kill them is an injustice. The brain chemistry of a young person is much different than that of an adult. That isn't an excuse for violent crime, just a recognition of the simple fact that mentally, they are not adults and they are more capable of reform.

[rodeodance]

132. past time!!!

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/030105Y.shtml

Supreme Court Bars Death Penalty for Juvenile Killers
The Associated Press

Tuesday 01 March 2005

Washington - The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Constitution forbids the execution of killers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes, ending a practice used in 19 states.