NCJ Number
135759
Journal
Albany Law Review Volume: 54 Issue: 3/4 Dated: (1990) Pages: 625-679
Date Published
1990
Length
55 pages
Annotation
This article supplies the facts and legal reasoning for the rejection of the death penalty for juveniles in New York in the 1990's and beyond.
Abstract
After a discussion of the national history of the juvenile death penalty, the article reviews the history of the juvenile death penalty in New York State. A discussion of constitutionality issues focuses on relevant U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding age limits for capital punishment. The article then outlines appropriate criteria for legislative decisions regarding age factors in capital punishment statutes. The author concludes that if New York does enact a death-penalty statute, its implicit minimum age is likely to be age 16 at the time of the crime, since this is the mandate from the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in "Thompson." If the statute is to have an express minimum age, which it should for purposes of clarity and legislative intent, that minimum age can range from between 16 and 21, or even higher. The superior alternative for New York is age 18. This age is by far the most commonly used worldwide and nationally and is the age line between childhood and adulthood most commonly used in New York State for a wide spectrum of legal rights and duties. 6 tables and 454 footnotes