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

Posted on 03/01/2005 7:21:16 AM PST by 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.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ban; deathpenalty; impeachthem; judicialtyranny; juveniles; levinsexactlyright; meninblack; readmarklevinsbook; ropervsimmons; ruling; scotus; supremecourt
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To: clawrence3

Sadly, that was Sandra Day O'Connor, Reagan appointee and one of the four who dissented in today's decision.


181 posted on 03/01/2005 7:53:38 AM PST by aynrandfreak (If 9/11 didn't change you, you're a bad human being)
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To: Semper Paratus
I wonder if this is one of those cases were some of the Justices considered International Law in their decision?

Funny you should say that. Last night I read the debate between Scalia and Breyer on just that issue. Breyer stated he would continue to read and cite such cases.

182 posted on 03/01/2005 7:53:40 AM PST by jwalsh07
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To: Trust but Verify
Do you really beleive the death penalty is a deterrent?

NO...I see as an act of revenge.
And I am comfortable with that.

183 posted on 03/01/2005 7:54:05 AM PST by eddie willers
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To: Publius Valerius

It's never been done, but there's no Constitutional mandate that any judge be a member of the bar.


184 posted on 03/01/2005 7:54:39 AM PST by Tree of Liberty (requiescat in pace, President Reagan)
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To: houeto

That's the way the law works, yes. It's because they have to apply to 300 million people with 300 million sets of life experiences, so they find an arbitrary line and stick to it on principle. What's the alternative, having judges decide when someone is old enough to vote as an individual?


185 posted on 03/01/2005 7:54:45 AM PST by HostileTerritory
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To: Diddle E. Squat
Wow, talk about using irrational emotionalism as an argument.

What if it later turns out he's innocent?

Made his 2 elderly neighbors (the wife was so frail she walked with a cane) kneel on their floor and then shot them execution style. Shot her in the side of the head and blew her teeth out all over her kitchen floor.

Lock him up for life, don't execute. I know it won't satisfy your lust for blood, but aren't we trying to run a moral country here?
186 posted on 03/01/2005 7:54:52 AM PST by Quick1
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To: Netizen

"Parents cannot control everything that their children do no matter how much they might try.
"

Unfortunately, parents do not try. The vast majority of these violent crimes occur at night when the child should be at home.


187 posted on 03/01/2005 7:54:52 AM PST by shellshocked
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To: msp2004
I wonder how many teens are currently on death row.

This decision doesn't just apply to teens on death row. It applied to people on death row who are now over 18 but who committed their crimes when they were 16-17.

188 posted on 03/01/2005 7:54:58 AM PST by Modernman ("Normally, I don't listen to women, or doctors." - Captain Hero)
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To: Next_Time_NJ; floriduh voter
The executions, the court said, were unconstitutionally cruel.

........hmmmmm and yet to pull the plug and MURDER Terri Shiavo, is humane!!! We are a messed up society!!!

189 posted on 03/01/2005 7:55:11 AM PST by pollywog (Psalm 121;1 I Lift my eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help.)
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To: Quick1

I agree with you there.. Pro-Life is Pro-life.. this means ALL life.. I think people just say they are against abortion rather then say pro-life if they are for the death penality. I cant even say im truely pro life becuase there are plenty of cases where i think the person should have been put to death.


190 posted on 03/01/2005 7:55:23 AM PST by Next_Time_NJ (NJ demorat exterminator)
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To: Next_Time_NJ

I don't agree with the decision, in that I don't believe that executing people who murdered at age 16 or 17 is cruel and unusual punishment. However, it don't feel like there are any umbras or penumbras in the decision, either.

I simply disagree with the application of the term, "Cruel and unusual."


191 posted on 03/01/2005 7:55:29 AM PST by Celtjew Libertarian (Shake Hands with the Serpent: Poetry by Charles Lipsig aka Celtjew http://books.lulu.com/lipsig)
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To: jwalsh07

There's no need to invoke foreign law. There's plenty of precedent in the US Supreme Court history for setting the bar of "cruel and unusual".


192 posted on 03/01/2005 7:55:34 AM PST by Phocion
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To: HostileTerritory

I had the same thought. If a 17 year old isn't allowed the same priviliges as an 18 year old, then why should he be given the same punishment? It's contradictory to say that he is too immature to drink, smoke and vote, and then say that he should be held to the same level of responsibility as an adult if he commits a murder.


193 posted on 03/01/2005 7:55:40 AM PST by SilentServiceCPOWife (Romeo&Juliet, Troilus&Crisedye, Bogey&Bacall, Gable&Lombard, Brigitte&Flav)
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To: Tree of Liberty

Actually, I know that a criminal defendant has a right to have his appeal heard by a lawyer-judge; it's part of due process. I think there would be the same constitutional infirmities to appointing a non-lawyer to the Supreme Court.


194 posted on 03/01/2005 7:55:46 AM PST by Publius Valerius
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To: Modernman
You can't logically have it both ways- you can't treat a 16 year-old like an adult for some purposes but like a child for others.

We do it all the time. A sixteen year old may have a drive but may not vote and eighteen year old may vote but may not drink.

195 posted on 03/01/2005 7:55:47 AM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (No one knows the shape of the future or where it will take us. We know only the way is paved in pain)
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To: Qwinn

Well, then, I guess we'd better pass a law against people under 18 killing anybody.

< /blistering sarcasm >

Dan


196 posted on 03/01/2005 7:55:49 AM PST by BibChr ("...behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?" [Jer. 8:9])
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To: 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.

Actually, BOTH of those come from your compassionate side.

197 posted on 03/01/2005 7:55:58 AM PST by murdoog
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To: Publius Valerius; clawrence3

There is a difference. British common law has been incorporated into the American legal system, since we started as British colonies.


198 posted on 03/01/2005 7:56:01 AM PST by Pyro7480 ("All my own perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded upon Our Lady." - Tolkien)
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To: Lancey Howard

Kennedy will be 69 in July.


199 posted on 03/01/2005 7:56:10 AM PST by jackbill
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To: Quick1

"but aren't we trying to run a moral country here?"

It doesn't seem like it. It seems like some conservatives have just as an emotional reaction to crime as liberals do for environmental issues.


200 posted on 03/01/2005 7:56:10 AM PST by shellshocked
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