NOTICE: The following
article is written by the author itself and not by me, I am not trying to
violate their copyright. I will give some information on them. On this date, 25
June 2012, the United States Supreme Court held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders.
How would you feel if your family member was murdered by a juvenile offender
and at least, 15 or 20 years later, he was released to go free and kill again?
Say ‘Thank You’ to the ACLU who are so happy for it. Yamaji
Yukio, Rogelio
Cannady, Abdullah
T. Hameen and Lee
Andrew Taylor were several perfect examples of juvenile killers who
murdered again when they were released or killed behind bars, now they were all
executed and will never murder again. That is why I chose this as the article
on the Death Penalty of the week.
PAGE TITLE: http://my.hsj.org/default.aspx
ARTICLE TITLE: Juvenile
criminals should face death penalty
DATE: Saturday 15 June
2013
AUTHOR:
Wildcat
Times - Mayfield High School - Juvenile criminals should face death penalty
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AN American teenage gunman has mocked the grieving
families of three students he killed in a school shooting, at a court hearing
that saw him sentenced to life in prison. TJ Lane showed only
contempt as he fidgeted in his seat wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the word
"killer" that he had smuggled in under a dress shirt, a courtroom
video feed showed. The 18-year-old then taunted the grieving family members
with a vulgar description of how much he still enjoys the memory of killing
their sons and ended his brief statement by waving his middle finger at the
court. (SOURCE: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/teen-gunman-tj-lane-mocks-victims-families-in-sentence-hearing/story-e6frg6so-1226601200479)
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June 15,
2013
Juvenile criminals executed: Young criminals who
committed severe crimes should face the death penalty like adults. Alabama's
attorney general for Roper wrote, "There is no magic in the age 18."
- wintersixfour
The Chardon school massacre by an 18 year old is a
reminder of the constitution’s power to not allow juveniles to receive the
death penalty. The government should remove the age limit.
The death penalty
is only for adult criminals that committed serious crimes. But if a juvenile is
responsible for these crimes, it is not cruel for them to receive the same
penalty as adults.
CST News reported that in 1992, juvenile courts
handled 2,500 criminal homicides and over a million cases of lesser crimes. We
are seeing more and more very young people commit serious crimes– some kids as
young as six years old!
The United States government says that the 8th
Amendment does not allow cruel and unusual punishments, so juveniles won’t be
executed. But the amendment didn ot actually state a specific age that would be
considered cruel for executing.
Justice Stevens wrote that,“If the meaning of that Amendment had been frozen
when it was originally drafted, it would impose no impediment to the execution
of 7-year-old children today.”
In the Stanford v. Kentucky case (1989),
United States Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment does not prohibit
the death penalty for crimes committed at ages 16 or 17.
English teacher Sean McNamara said, “If the person
committed a severe crime and is aware of doing it, that person should be
executed even if under age 18.”
There shouldn't be a determined line that separate
juveniles and adults. Every human being is different, so their mental
development wouldn't always be the same.
Fox News reported that Robert Blecker, a professor
of criminal law at New York Law School, argues that, “The very fact that some
minors commit atrocious crimes merits the option of capital punishment.”
In the 2005 Roper v. Simmons case, the group
for juvenile death penalty said that capital crimes juveniles commit are
sometimes even worse than those committed by the grown criminals.
Death penalty for juveniles is important for
preserving law and order, deters crime, and costs less than life imprisonment.
An example of a severe crime happened in
1993. 2-year-old Jamie Bulger, living in Bootle, England, was taken by two
10-year-old boys and was mutilated and murdered. The two boys then laid his
body on a railroad track with the intention of causing substantial injury which
would cover up what they had done to the child.
The murderers were tried and convicted as minors
and the boys have since been relocated and given new identities.
Excuses should not be made for these offenders;
lessening the consequences of their actions will not only undermine the victim
and his or her family, but also make it seem excusable after a short period of
remorse.
Freshman Ann King said, “Yes, they can have the
death penalty if they did something really bad.”
“There are currently 19 states that allow the
execution of 16 and 17 year olds for the commission of capital crimes and 73
people are currently on death row for crimes they committed when they were that
age,” reported Charles Montaldo on About.com.
The Death Penalty for Juvenile Offenders report
stated that between the mid 1980s and 1990s, the United States saw a 168%
increase in the number of youths committing homicide. In 2003, juveniles were
reported to be involved in one out of six murder arrests and the age of those
juveniles continued to fall.
The Death Penalty for Juvenile Offenders by Judy
Regan said, “Prevention, by eliminating many of the underlying societal
problems that contribute to this violence, seems too complex, too slow, too
difficult, and too 'soft' for the advocates of the death penalty for
juveniles.”
Many Americans directly affected by juvenile crime
believe that, when children commit murder, harsh punishment is justified.
Courts have upheld the death penalty throughout varying states, however, the
controversy remains.
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