Good Things Do Still Happen
Tuesday, March 1st, 2005The Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for teenaged murderers today:
The Supreme Court ruled today, in one of the most closely watched capital punishment cases in years, that imposing the death penalty on convicted murderers who were younger than 18 at the time of their crimes is unconstitutional.
The 5-to-4 decision, arising from a Missouri case, holds that executing young killers violates “the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society,” and that American society has come to regard juveniles as less culpable than adult criminals.
The ruling, which acknowledged “the overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty,” erases the death sentences imposed on about 70 defendants who were juveniles at the time they killed. Although 19 states nominally permit the execution of juvenile murderers, only Texas, Virginia and Oklahoma have executed any in the past decade.
…
Until today, the United States and Somalia were the only nations that permitted putting teenage criminals to death. The court’s ruling today held that, while the “overwhelming weight of international opinion” was not controlling, it nevertheless provided “respected and significant confirmation” for the majority’s finding.
It’s good to leave bad company.
