NCJ Number
132980
Journal
Judicature Volume: 75 Issue: 1 Dated: (June-July 1991) Pages: 6-15
Date Published
1991
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the constitutional issues surrounding the capital punishment of offenders whose crimes were committed as juveniles.
Abstract
The discussion focuses on the standards and methods judges must use to determine if a punishment violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment and the judicial interpretation and application of such standards to juvenile executions. Emphasizing "youth as a mitigating factor," the review also considers the issues of public opinion, laws of other nations, the psychological responsibility of the juvenile offender, and whether executing juveniles satisfies the "objectives" of capital punishment. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision suggests that the primary test of constitutionality in the future may rest on acceptability to contemporary society rather than the eighth amendment. After determining that petitioner's death sentences were consistent with the standards of contemporary society in "Stanford," the plurality saw no need to go further and to consider, as a separate issue, whether death sentences were disproportionate to the offense. 92 footnotes