CNN: US SUPREME COURT: ALL DEATH PENALTY CASES WITH JUVENILE KILLERS THROWN OUT!

CNN on TV

[Next_Time_NJ]

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Constitution forbids the execution of killers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes, ending a practice used in 19 states.

The 5-4 decision throws out the death sentences of about 70 juvenile murderers and bars states from seeking to execute minors for future crimes.

The executions, the court said, were unconstitutionally cruel.

This report will be updated as details become available.

[HostileTerritory]

People love to bash Massachusetts, but I'd love to see them compare our crime/murder rates to those of almost any other state that doesn't end in Dakota or Hampshire.

[M 91 u2 K]

He's below the age of consent and can not be legally judged to be of the same sound mind as an adult committing the same crime. Put him in jail for as long as we need to, but he's not an adult any more than a 17 year old girl seeking to abort her baby is an adult.

17 years old have the same mental capacity of a 18 year old so dont give us that bleeding heart liberal crap!

When a 17 year old gang banger rapes and kills members of your family lets see how you will view their mental capacity.

[jla]

"The four most liberal justices had already gone on record in 2002, calling it "shameful" to execute juvenile killers. Those four, joined by Kennedy, also agreed with Tuesday's decision: Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, as expected, voted to uphold the executions. They were joined by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor."

Hopefully, Bush should have the opportunity to nominate replacements for Stevens and Ginsburg before his term is up.

[clawrence3]

Sounds good to me - whichever Justice cited FOREIGN precedent as justification should have Articles of Impeachment submitted TODAY!

[gopwinsin04]

Whew.

[AmishDude]

Ping! (Although you're probably busy these days.)

[deport]

is a lot more or a punishment then a quick needle and death and such a young age.

---

Has anyone been executed below the age of 18?...... I don't know.

In Texas the state that gets the most press about its executions the youngest person executed was 24 yrs old..... That 6 above the 18 mark..... The average time on Death row is 10.4 years....

What is the age at which you think someone should be elgible for the death penalty?...... 18, 25, 30, never?

[HostileTerritory]

17 years old have the same mental capacity of a 18 year old

So how come the 18 year old can vote, get an abortion, and have sex with whatever adult they choose and the 17 year old can't?

[skeeter]

The same thing can be said about an adult who picks up a gun - what lawbreaker thinks of the consequences before committing the act? Not many.

But regarding those who do act in cold blood, I'd like the court - society really - to have the discretion to remove them from the gene pool, regardless of age.

[kingattax]

So, now all the gang bangers will use teenagers to commit the murders. Okay Supreme Court -- you will reap what you sow.

that was the first thought i had

does the DC sniper case come to mind ???? WHAT IDIOTS

[Tree of Liberty]

It's not banning all punishment, but it is banning the only just punishment for the crime of murder when commited by those under 18.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I still think 23 hours a day in lockdown while being being "Bubba's new girlfriend" is a lot more or a punishment then a quick needle and death and such a young age.

Oh how nice. So you want the other inmates to torture them because you are too squeamish to give them the punishment that fits their crime and prevents them from being a further threat to society.

That is really sick.

[jwalsh07]

SCOTUS is on a roll. Kennedy goes way out on the transcendent liberty Hale Bopp comet to find a reason to co-opt even more power from the states and the 4 Mouseketeers go merrily on the ride.

While 17 year olds are old enough to fight and die for their country on far off shores, 17 year old mass murderers in America can not be held to the same standard as 18 year olds.

And so it goes!

[jla]

In a dissent, Scalia decried the decision, arguing that there has been no clear trend of declining juvenile executions to justify a growing consensus against the practice.

"The court says in so many words that what our people's laws say about the issue does not, in the last analysis, matter: 'In the end our own judgment will be brought to bear on the question of the acceptability of the death penalty,' he wrote in a 24-page dissent.

"The court thus proclaims itself sole arbiter of our nation's moral standards," Scalia wrote.

[Bikers4Bush]

More judicial tyranny. Outrageous.

[jla]

fyi

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

I have mixed feelings about this. My compassionate side says it is the right decision....

My other, louder side says their victims are as dead as they would be if the murderer was 21. There are way too many streetsmart minors out their who know exactly what they are doing.

I guess the next best thing to frying is to send a 15 or 16 year old cold blooded killer child to prison knowing he will never, ever see the outside. But that will be next on the lib agenda.

[Netizen]

Yeah, this is big, but honestly I think I have to agree with their decision.

And when more and more murders are committed by juveniles, then what?

What stops people from hiring juveniles to murder others?

[boofus]

A wild animal that maims and kills a human does not have the capacity to understand what it has done either. Yet we put them down because they are a continued threat.

That is how juvenile killers need to be dealt with.

[AmishDude]

Your argument, then, also precludes prison.