| Lauren Girard Adams on "Reviewing Juvenile Executions" |
The Supreme Court recently decided to review the use of execution in
juvenile cases. Lauren Girard Adams, Equal Justice Fellow and staff attorney
at the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University,
says the court could be deciding on two separate issues.
Adams: One is whether or not the Missouri Supreme Court
overstepped its bounds in declaring the juvenile death penalty unconstitutional
under
the Eighth
Amendment of the United States Constitution. The other issue they will
hopefully be looking at is whether or not, in fact, the juvenile death
penalty is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment to the United
States Constitution.
Adams says the decision will not necessarily reflect the court’s
opinion regarding the death penalty for adults.
Adams: Evaluating whether or not its unconstitutional to execute juvenile offenders
can be quite different than the factors that they would be looking at
to make that decision with respect to the general population. The analysis
under the Eighth Amendment is whether there is an evolving consensus
that the practice is cruel and unusual.
According to Adams, the issue of juvenile executions has been under examination
for years.
Adams: This issue has been percolating for quite some time. There have been
significant actions in the states to introduce and pass legislation to
eliminate the juvenile death penalty in the states that currently still
have it. A majority of states do not allow juvenile offenders to be executed.
Adams says a decision against juvenile executions will impact Texas the
most.
Adams: Texas obviously will be impacted the most significantly by such a decision.
They’ve executed 13 juvenile offenders and currently have 28 juvenile
offenders on death row. So the practice is predominantly in Texas, as
opposed to the rest of country. They’re by far the leader in the
execution of juvenile offenders.
Adams hopes the Court will rule against juvenile executions.
Adams: The law prohibits persons under the age of 18 from voting, serving in
the military, from entering into contracts and from doing a whole host
of things. So we hope that the Supreme Court will recognize this in their
decision. We hope that the Supreme Court will recognize that there is
a national consensus on banning the execution of juvenile offenders and
the United States is virtually alone in the world in openly and legally
continuing this practice.
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