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May 11, 2004 · Since 1973, 226 juvenile death sentences have been imposed. Twenty-two juvenile offenders have been executed and 82 remain on death row. On January 27, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review whether executing sixteen and seventeen year-olds violates the Constitution’s ban on ‘cruel and unusual punishment.’
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Children are not as culpable as adults for their actions. In the death penalty context, that principle has caused debate about what age is too young for someone to be subject to execution. International human rights law has long prohibited the use of the death penalty against people who were younger than age 18 at the time of the offense. See Execu...
Debate has continued on whether even the age of 18 is too young to assume full adult accountability for a heinous crime. Some have suggested that 21 would be a more appropriate age both because of the rights and responsibilities conferred by society at that age and because new brain science shows that critical areas of the brain relating to judgmen...
DPIC has carefully monitored the flow of state legislation and court decisions regarding the appropriate age for the death penalty. The pertinent Supreme Court decision is fully analyzed. DPIC also makes available the thorough research by others on the use of the death penalty for juveniles in U.S. history, with statistics on sentences, executions,...
Learn about the U.S. Supreme Court rulings that prohibit the death penalty for offenders under 18, and the ongoing debate about whether 18 is too young. Find statistics, news, and resources on juvenile executions and life-without-parole sentences.
Key Supreme Court Cases on the Death Penalty for Juveniles The constitutionality of executing persons for crimes committed when they were under the age of 18 is an issue that the Supreme Court has evaluated in several cases since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Twenty-two juvenile offenders were executed in the United States in the three decades between the Supreme Court decisions upholding the constitutionality of capital punishment in 1976 and the execution bar announced in Roper (see map, below). Those 22 executions comprised about 2% of the executions carried out in that time period.
DateFirst NameLast NameRace09/11/1985CharlesRumbaughWhite01/10/1986JamesRoachWhite05/15/1986JayPinkertonWhite05/18/1990DaltonPrejeanBlackNov 1, 2000 · This bulletin examines the history, legal issues, and current status of juvenile capital punishment in the U.S. It also compares the state-by-state differences and the international movement toward abolishing juvenile death sentences.
In all, 30 states prohibited execution of juveniles: 12 that prohibited the death penalty altogether, and 18 that excluded juveniles from its reach.
JUVENILES AND THE DEATH PENALTY. Executions Worldwide since 1990. 1. Introduction. The use of the death penalty for crimes committed under the age of 18 is prohibited under international human rights standards, yet some countries still permit or practice the execution of juvenile offenders.
