Out of thirty-eight states with the death penalty, twenty-two.
allow executions for crimes committed by juveniles. The Supreme Court .
said that it would decide weather the Constitution allows the executions of killers .
who commit their crimes before they are eighteen years of age. Currently, the .
minimum age for the death penalty in seventeen states is sixteen years old, in .
five states it is seventeen yrs. old and in and sixteen states it is eighteen yrs. old. .
One of the judges of the Suprem Court stated that people younger than eighteen .
lack the moral judgment to be fully responsible for their crimes. I personally agree .
with the statement the judge made. I do not believe that a child is familiar with the .
consequences and outcome of committing a murder or any other violent crimes. .
I would like to start of by asking; how can anybody agree with the death .
penalty being an option for the juveniles as a punishment? Teenagers are less .
mature and, therefore, less at fault than adults who commit similar acts but have .
no such explanation for their conduct. Adolescence is a transitional period of life .
when emotions, judgment, impulse control, and identity are still developing. In .
fact, recent discoveries reveal that the brain continues to develop into the early .
twenties, with the executive functions, such as impulse control, identity, decision .
making, and morality, developing last. As a result, late adolescence is a time .
when youth are refining moral values and when they are the most capable to .
understand adult moral instruction. I believe that immaturity is the reason we do .
not allow those under eighteen to assume the major responsibilities of adulthood, .
such as serving on a jury, military combat service, voting, drinking alcohol or .
making medical decisions. So then why are we allowing the United States to .
murder these young adolescences? .
Throughout the process of this report I have done a little bit of research .
