Capital Punishment Essay - We Should Not Exclude Juveniles

Capital Punishment Should Not Exclude Juveniles In August of 2000, three year old Damion was suffocated after several attempts by his five-year-old sister and her six-year-old friend to kill him. When the police talked to the two girls, they concluded that it was an lettered murder, but under California state right, children under the age of 14 can be charged only if thither is clear proof that at the time of committing the act... they knew its wrongfulness. With no witness to the annoyance, the police only had the girls word and consequently, there wasnt enough evidence to charge the two girls with murder (Murr 32).By law a adolescent is anyone under the age of eighteen. Juvenile comelyice is the severalize of the criminal law that deals with juveniles, because they atomic number 18 not old enough to be held accountable for their own actions. This normally means that their parents would be charged with the crime (Schonwald). But in case of Damions murder, California also deci ded that the girls were just too young, and since the parents werent there to witness the homicide, they too were not punished (Murr 32). This do it seem like the murder of a three-year-old never really happened at all.Every state has different laws for trying young criminals as adults. The states of Vermont and Kansas provide statutory provisions for trying children as young as ten years old in an adult criminal court. In okey the age is set at seven Nevada, eight and in Colorado, xii (Frontline). In 1972 the United express Supreme Court struck piling on every state death penalty, saying that it was cruel and crotchety punishment and it violated the 5th Amendment. In 1976 the Supreme Court rewrite its decision saying that it was acceptable as long as the Co... ... tidings and World Report 17 Jan. 2000 26-27Juvenile Justice Frontline 2001 17 Dec. 2001http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/stats/states.htmlMurr, Andrew and Springen, Karen. Death at a very Ear ly Age Is it a crime when a 5-and 6-year old suffocate a 3-year old? Newsweek 28 Aug. 2000 32Redding, Richard. Juvenile Forensic Evaluation Resource Center State Transfer Laws 2000 17 Dec. 2001 www.ilppp.virginia.edu/Juvenile_Forensic_Fact_Sheets/Fact_Sheets/StateTrans.htmlSchonwald, Josh. Juvenile deliquents respond to punishment just as adults criminals do, University of Chicago study shows. The University of Chicago News Office 21 Dec. 1998 5 Dec. 2001http//www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/98/981221leavitt.shtmlWilson, Anamaria. Lock Em Up Minority youth are more likely to face trial as adults. Time 14 Feb. 2001 68.