NCJ Number
172501
Date Published
1997
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This report presents data on the death penalty for juvenile offenders.
Abstract
The report presents the crime characteristics and personal characteristics of juvenile offenders who have been sentenced to death, who have been executed, or who are currently under death sentences. The annual death sentencing rate and the juvenile death row population are very small in comparison to that for adults, despite significant increases in the number of juveniles arrested for potentially capital crimes. The study discusses the constitutionality of the juvenile death penalty, and presents statistics on: executions of juvenile offenders, January 1, 1973 through June 30, 1997; minimum death penalty ages by American jurisdiction; documented executions of juvenile offenders in foreign countries, January 1985-June 1995; death sentences imposed for crimes committed as juveniles, January 1, 1973 to June 30, 1997; state-by-state juvenile death sentences, January 1, 1973 to June 30, 1997; and characteristics of offenders and victims in juvenile death penalty cases as of June 30, 1996. Notes, tables, appendixes