Too Young to Die? The U.S. Supreme Court and the Juvenile Death Penalty (From Juvenile Justice: Policies, Programs, and Services, Second Edition, P 250-269, 1998, Albert R. Roberts, ed. - See NCJ 170093)

• NCJ Number: 170106
• Author(s): K C Haas
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: Nelson-Hall Publishers
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This chapter examines the history and current status of the juvenile death penalty, the case law prior to 1988, and the impact of several US Supreme Court decisions on the future of the juvenile death penalty.

Abstract

Over the past decade, juvenile arrests for murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault have escalated at an alarming rate. Many public officials have responded by arguing that violent juvenile offenders should receive harsher punishments, including the death penalty. The execution of juvenile offenders was not clearly constitutional until the late 1980s when the US Supreme Court announced two landmark decisions. In Thompson v. Oklahoma (1988) and Stanford v. Kentucky (1989), the Court in effect drew a line that bans the execution of offenders under the age of 16 but permits execution for crimes committed at the age of 16 or above. The chapter looks briefly at the history and current status of the juvenile death penalty, reviews the case law prior to 1988, analyzes the opinions issued in Thompson and Stanford, and discusses the impact of those holdings on the future of the juvenile death penalty. The chapter includes discussion questions based on the information presented. Table, notes, references, cases cited