Posted on 03/01/2005 9:50:12 AM PST by advance_copy
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court's decision to ban the execution of juvenile killers will not have an impact on any future Maryland prosecutions of convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, but will have an impact should he be prosecuted in Louisiana.
Maryland law didn't allow for anyone under 18 to be executed before the court's ruling. In Louisiana, the death penalty had been allowed for juveniles.
"Now my intent will be to extradite Malvo to Louisiana and give him the maximum sentence allowable under Louisiana law, which is life without the suspense of probation or parole," John Sinquefield, chief assistant district attorney for East Baton Rouge Parish, tells WTOP.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtop.com ...
Before long, some judge will probably come up with an excuse to spare John Muhammed also.
Ok the Supreme Court has made a moral decision into law, again, but the thing that bothers me on this is that Kennedy went 'outside' the United States to find a law to support his decision...since when do the people on the Supreme Court have the right to go 'outside' to decide our laws???? And when did anyone give them the right to 'make laws'????? They are there to made decisions, NOT LAWS!!! I say we best get something going to end this 'sit on the bench for life' crap...these people are senile.....
Many states do not have provisions/laws for moving juveniles to adult facilities once they reach age 18.
In such instances, a juvenile who murdered could conceivably be released on attaining the age of 18.
Just wondering what Constitution they are reading. Where in the Constitution does it say anything about age and executions? One can probably make a case for not executing someone for committing a crime when they are under the age of 18, but that is a legislative issue, not a constitutional issue. Damn, when are some of these old farts going to retire so Bush can nominate some folks that have read the document they are supposed to ruling on.
Maybe we can smuggle a couple of cases of Marlboros into the prison and some inmates can save the taxpayers' money in feeding and housing Malvo.
Well, if Malvo's going to duck the death penalty, I can't think of a better place for him to serve his sentence than Angola. He's going to be *very* popular.
Thanks for posting the link to Scalia's dissent! He uses his towering intellect to eviscerate the "reasoning" of the majority, and it is a beautiful thing to watch.
President Bush will have a wonderful choice of CJ in either Scalia or Thomas, and hopefully will appoint a strict constructionist to fulfill Rehnquist's very large shoes. O'Connor even did the right thing here; maybe she has realized that catering to the left makes for an uneasy conscience. What the five others on the Court were drinking is unknown.
As the only really sane person on the court, Scalia's opinion ought to be read. It lays it all out and in effect shows the USSC majority just decided it wanted to once again write law and not act as the arbitors of the judiciary.
This is the second time the SCOTUS has gone outside United States law to come up with a decision which contradicts the United States Constitution. Maybe it's time for term limit amendment for all federal judges.
Told ya so.
Speaking of morality that you seem to think can be defined by a hard age limit, at what age did the Founding Fathers consider someone an adult back in the 1770's?
(Hint: adolescense is a relatively modern concept, not orginating until the Victorian age)
You're right. Kennedy noted "international opposition." Who cares what the rest of the world thinks? We are America. Those liberals have got to go.
Term limits and being subject to re-elction is the only real solution to this very, very frightening problem. These people are SERIOUSLY out of control. I would have said impossible in my lifetime, but with everything that happened with the old Evil Empire and now the Middle East, you never know. Those who live in states with Republican Senators (I'm in California) need to REALLY put the heat on.
(c) The overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty is not controlling here, but provides respected and significant confirmation for the Court's determination that the penalty is disproportionate punishment for offenders under 18. See, e.g., Thompson, supra, at 830-831, and n. 31. The United States is the only country in the world that continues to give official sanction to the juvenile penalty. It does not lessen fidelity to the Constitution or pride in its origins to acknowledge that the express affirmation of certain fundamental rights by other nations and peoples underscores the centrality of those same rights within our own heritage of freedom.
(snicker) Yeah...the "global test". Straight from the dem playbook.
I totally agree
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