1). Cothern answers from a historical and current basis by analyzing past sentences as well as current acceptance and the precedence rate of the death penalty. .
Cothern states that twenty three states condone the death penalty for juveniles and currently seventeen have been executed for their crimes as juveniles and seventy-four people sit on death row for crimes committed in their youth. The juvenile death penalty has been subject to national debate and Cothern describes the history of the death penalty that has authorized 20,000 executions over the last 350 years including 361 juveniles beginning in 1642. These figures are followed by a profile of juveniles on death row which is predominately male, seventy-three percent of their crimes were committed at seventeen, sixty-three percent are minorities, and have been on death row from a few months to more than twenty-one years. Lewis conducted a study of fourteen of the thirty-seven offenders on death row in the US and 100% of the juveniles had head .
injuries in their childhood and 100% of the offenders also had some type of psychological disorder. Cothern found that in 1999 many of the states that allow .
the death penalty were under a process of reevaluating their decisions and remain split. However, some states allow the death penalty at sixteen and seventeen, while others refrain until adulthood at age eighteen. The article presents an array of figures and statistics and other factual information however, the focus of the article is providing violent juveniles with effective program options, protecting the due process rights of juveniles, and reconsideration of the death penalty for juveniles.
2. Cullen, F. T., Scott, J. E., & Skovron, S. E. (1989). The Death Penalty for Juveniles: An Assessment of Public Support. Crime & Delinquency, 35 (4), 546-561.
B. The article provided a research based study designed to focus on the characteristics of those who support the death penalty in comparison to those who support its abolishment.
-There are 81 juveniles currently on death row in the United States, 64% are people of color. ... This year, the DRC established a moratorium on executions, Pakistan abolished the death penalty for juveniles and Iran announced that it is preparing to do the same. ... -Contact Death Penalty Focus. ... -Start a Death Penalty Focus chapter at your school. ... -Attend national conferences on death penalty organizing. ...
In the seventeen years from when the death penalty was reinstated, 17 men were executed for crimes that they committed as juveniles. ... Debate about the use of the death penalty for juveniles has grown more intense because of the demand for harsher punishment for serious and violent juvenile offenders and challenges to the death penalty's legality. ... In this paper I will discuss the evolution of the death penalty and its application to juvenile offenders, justifications for sentencing juveniles to death row, and why proponents feel that there are other alternatives. ... Without ruling...
Also thrown into the mix is the issue of the death penalty for juveniles. ... The greatest costs of the death penalty are incurred prior to and at trial, not in post-conviction proceedings. ... Even if all post-conviction proceedings were abolished, the death penalty system would still be more expensive than the alternative. Aside from the deterrence myth and astronomical costs of the death penalty, it is important to consider the mindset of a juvenile who commits even the most egregious act. ... Their "Color of Justice" study is only the tip of the iceberg when we consider the ramificatio...
Should Juveniles Be Subject to the Death Penalty? ... Should a juvenile be subject to the death penalty? ... Retentionists seek to hold the current death penalty laws unchanged for these reasons: (1) the death penalty is a deterrent for criminal behavior, (2) a murderer is not capable or deserving of rehabilitation, regardless of age, and (3) the cost of keeping a juvenile incarcerated for a life time would be too high. ... A proponent of the death penalty would argue exactly this point. ... The average murder rates among death penalty states were 8.0, and the average among non-death p...
Issue: The goal of this paper is to show the pros and cons and give information on the juvenile death penalty. ... Although there are those who have good arguments for the juvenile death penalty, which will be presented later on in my paper, I think that it's a shameful practice. ... The Federal Government has imposed the death penalty against American Indian children for crimes they committed as young as ten years old (The National coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty). ... There are many arguments that support the use of the death penalty for juveniles. ... In modern day only...
Juveniles are highly incapable of making reasoning and lifelong decisions. ... Sentencing teens to the death penalty is cruel and unreasonable; therefore, juveniles should not be sentenced to the death penalty. ... Murderers do not expect to be caught or to be sentenced to death, so the threat of the death penalty has no effect on them. ... "Ten of the 12 states without capital punishment have homicide rates below the national average," the Times said, "while half the states with the death penalty have homicide rates above the national average." In a state-by- state analys...
Con's Those who oppose the death penalty feel very strongly about their opinions. ... JUVENILES Pro's Those who feel it is right to kill juveniles by the death penalty agree that murder is a serious offense at any age. ... Also juveniles on death row might be unable to fully understand the consequences of their actions. ... Then the jury decides on a final verdict, either life without parole, or the death penalty. ... Clearly, the real question here is: Is the death penalty effective, fair, and morally right? ...
Proposition 21 allows courts to try juveniles as young as fourteen in adult court, imposes stiffer penalties for gang related offenses, and increases penalties for serious crimes (Text of Proposition 21, 2000). ... Juveniles commit many of these homicides. ... Confidentiality/Juvenile Records Prior to the passage of proposition 21, juveniles tried in the juvenile court were afforded the benefit of confidentiality. ... -Gang Shooting from Vehicle causing GBI/Death. ... New Death Penalty Special Circumstance Proposition 21 has enacted the following as part of California's death penalty st...
