NCJ Number
129870
Date Published
1991
Length
11 pages
Annotation
After discussing the historical and constitutional background of juvenile capital punishment, this report provides nationwide data on juvenile death sentences imposed during January 1, 1973, to May 1, 1991, and current death row inmates under juvenile death sentences.
Abstract
For the purposes of this study, a juvenile crime is defined as one committed while the offender was under age 18. A juvenile death penalty is one imposed for a juvenile crime. Major data sources for this report are the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and the National Coalition for the Abolition of the Death Penalty. Data show that the rate of juvenile death sentencing fluctuated considerably in the early years of the current era (1973 to May 1, 1991), but has settled into a consistent annual rate of approximately 2 percent of total death sentences since 1983. The only exception to this pattern occurred in 1987-89, when the juvenile death-sentencing rate dropped significantly during those years, presumably deterred by the cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court at that time. As of May 1, 1991, 31 persons were on death row under death sentences received for juvenile crimes. This constituted only 1.3 percent of the death row population of 2,457. Data on individual juveniles sentenced to death and case summaries for current death row inmates under juvenile death sentences for each State are appended.