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Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty For Juvenile Offenders

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A juvenile by law is also considered an infant. The legal term for infant describes a person under the age of 18. The age of when a child is considered to be a juvenile does vary from state to state but overall it is 18. A juvenile court system was started in the early 1900’s because juveniles lack the ability to understand their actions and take responsibility unlike adults. In the United States the death penalty is for offenders who have committed heinous crimes and rehabilitation for that offender is not possible. However, a juvenile’s brain is not fully developed so rehabilitation is possible or more likely than it is for an adult. Therefore, the death penalty for juvenile offenders is a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

Our justice system works to ensure that punishments match the crime and the person who committed that crime. The Eighth Amendment states that no cruel or unusual punishments should be inflicted upon any citizen of this country. The wording of this amendment can seem vague. How does the court decide what is considered cruel and unusual punishment? The simple answer is that punishments of beheadings, burning someone alive, or electric executions are considered cruel torture that do not meet our constitution’s standard of punishment. A juvenile is …show more content…

Simmons the Supreme Court ruled that Ropers death penalty sentence be overturned. Even though his case was tried once he turned 18 he committed the murder at the age of 17. Therefore he was a juvenile at the time the crime was committed. The court argued that capital punishment is limited to a narrow category of the most serious crimes and juvenile offenders can’t be classified among those offenders. Roper v. Simmons, 125 S.Ct. 1183 (2005). A juvenile’s own vulnerability and lack of control of their surroundings allow for it to be easier to forgive them for failing to escape negative influences in their life. Id. at

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