US Supreme Court to examine death penalty for juveniles

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=abdb4be03db326e7&cat=c08dd24cec417021

US Supreme Court to examine death penalty for juveniles






WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court is to hear arguments on the legality of the death penalty for those who were 16 and 17 at the time of their crimes, although such punishment is increasingly rare in the 19 states that still allow it.

A total 73 "young criminals" are currently on death row across the United States.

more...

This will be an interesting decision!!!

[saracat]

1. Well, hey! Bush executes the metally retarded, why not kids?

They'd only grow up to be a problem.

[lovuian]

2. I'm not surprised at all the Supreme court is taking this

Under Bush this totally makes sense!!!

[foreigncorrespondent]

3. Words fail me! (n/t)

[tlcandie]

4. Ahhh they can't vote or drink yet, but they CAN get the death

penalty.. makes LOTS of sense!!

[Judi Lynn]

5. Good lord. Look how far we have come. I'm kidding!

From the article:

The United States is only one of five countries, including China and Pakistan, that still execute teenagers.

The European Union, along with former US President Jimmy Carter and 17 other Nobel prize winners, have urged the US Supreme Court to halt teen executions, in a friend-of-court brief filed ahead of Wednesday's hearing.

The court has been divided on the issue in the past, with three of the nine justices in support of the execution of teenagers and four opposed.
(snip)

Simply unbelievable, isn't it? Hard to realize there was a time here when we didn't zestfully execute people.

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Moratorium on executions
By the end of the 1960s, all but 10 states had laws authorizing capital punishment, but strong pressure by forces opposed to the death penalty resulted in an unofficial moratorium on executions for several years, with the last execution during this period taking place in 1967. Prior to this, an average of 130 executions per year occurred.
(snip/...)

http://justice.uaa.alaska.edu/death/history.html

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This statue of Sadako holding a crane in her arms was completed in 1958 with the inscription that reads:
" This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world".

[Moderator]

6. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=897462

Please run a quick search with a keyword to avoid future duplicates.