Testimony of Victor L Streib On the Death Penalty for Juveniles Offered to the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, June 5, 1986

• NCJ Number: 101955
• Author(s): V L Streib
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Legislative Hearing/Committee Report
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Testimony regarding U.S. House Bill 343 and other related bills recommends against the enactment of any proposed Federal law that would permit the death penalty for persons who committed crimes while under age 18.

Abstract

Examination of the constitutional justifications of the death penalty for adults reveals their inapplicability to juvenile cases. Research overwhelmingly indicates that capital punishment is not a general deterrent to homicides; juveniles have no meaningful concept of death and thus do not understand the threatened penalty. Because juveniles have less capacity to control their conduct and to think in long-range terms than adults and because juvenile murderers have very low recidivism rates, arguments for the death penalty based on selective incapacitation or retribution are inapplicable. Further, capital punishment rules out the possibility of rehabilitation, upon which juvenile justice is based. Finally, although this penalty is available in 75 percent of States permitting capital punishment for adults, it is almost never imposed by judges and juries; societal reaction has increasingly rejected it as an option. Appendixes provide information on States permitting capital punishment of juveniles, juvenile executions, and juvenile death-row inmates.