NCJ Number
118478
Date Published
1986
Length
9 pages
Annotation
The imposition of the death penalty for crimes committed by minors presents its own special concerns of justice.
Abstract
Society recognizes that minors are less mature, less experienced, less able to exercise good judgment and self-restraint, more susceptible to environmental influence (both positive and negative), and as a result, less responsible and less culpable in a moral sense than adults. In light of these characteristics, minors are neither entitled to all the rights and privileges of adulthood, nor are they given the full obligations of adulthood until they reach their eighteenth birthdays. The differences between minors and adults in their capacities to assume such responsibility should be reflected in the response to crimes committed by minors. Some minors who commit serious crimes must be subject to trial and sentencing in the criminal justice system in order adequately to protect society and vindicate the criminal laws. However, this does not mean that the ultimate criminal sanction, execution, is appropriate. It is the view of the American Bar Association (ABA) that minors should not be held to the degree of moral accountability necessary to justify the ultimate sanction of execution. 5 footnotes.