juvenile executions banned - about time

[tigereye]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2270&ncid=2270&e=4&u=/krwashbureau/20050302/ts_krwashbureau/_bc_scotus_science_wa_1


I for one have been waiting for this for a number of years. Thank god that the legal system decided to pay attention to developmental research for a change.


If this has already been debated to a cinder, my apologies. But seeing the headline made my day.

[7th_Sephiroth]

1. now if only we could get

weed legalized and the fcc's bloody hands off television and radio

[tigereye]

2. well one thing at a time

yeah the FCC thing has a decidedly McCarthian cast to it. Back to the 50s.

[7th_Sephiroth]

3. the FCC an un elected body

just Decided it was gonna impose its fundy values on TV, i remember they had rules that Toilets could not be shown on TV (leave it to beaver was the first show to show even part of one on TV)

[tigereye]

4. at one time, you could not even show beds on tv

or women's belly buttons ( thanks to I Dream Of Jeannie);)

[7th_Sephiroth]

5. it was looking like the fcc was weakening

then Justin timberlake (must...kill) fucked it all up

[Rican1]

6. Does this make the Supreme Court

Activist Judges?

[tigereye]

8. umm I was just reading about the arguments

Kennedy et al. used, vs. O'Connor's and Scalia's dissents. Fascinating.

Well, if "activist" means following general standards of human decency, the answer might be yes. I am not totally sure of the legal definition of that term, or if it is just sour grapes from the Constructionists.

Oddly enough, the evocation of decency and humane practice almost seems like a legacy of the Warren Court ( the court that those complaining about activism tend to decry, right?)

[Rican1]

11. An "Activist" Judge

is defined as one that makes a ruling that Repugs disagree with.

[Jack_DeLeon]

7. I disagree with this...

IMO there is no difference between someone who commits a murder at 16 or 17 and a person who commits a murder when they are 18.

[tigereye]

9. well most countries see this practice as barbaric

the dissenters on the court felt that the majority was painting with too broad a brush and that each situation should be decided on a case by case basis ( O'Connor said that, I think)

They used a lot of developmental and brain research that has come out recently to make the decision as well. Some feel that our frontal lobes and decision- making functions are not as well developed as adults until after college years, mid - late twenties.

[Jack_DeLeon]

10. I have to agree with the dissenters on this case...

Any death penalty case has to be decided on a case by case basis, and that is what a jury trial is, a decision on a case by case basis.

As for the frontal lobes not being fully formed till later in life, IMO that doesnt matter. I'm in my mid 20s now and I never killed anyone when I was younger, Most human beings dont kill people just because they are "young."

People shouldnt get off just because "Oh I was only 17 and my brain wasnt fully developed." IMO its a bullshit excuse.

[tigereye]

12. I think it's more complex than that

but I have to eat dinner. I will come back to this. ;)