Child Advocates Pleased with U.S. Supreme Court's Decision to End Juvenile Death Penalty

Child Advocates Pleased with U.S. Supreme Court's Decision to End Juvenile Death Penalty

3/1/2005 11:37:00 AM

To: National Desk

Contact: Tyler Prell or Crystal Streuber, 202-518-8047, both of The Hauser Group (for the Juvenile Law Center, http://www.jlc.org )

PHILADELPHIA, March 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Juvenile Law Center, which filed amicus briefs along with 49 other child advocacy organizations calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to ban the juvenile death penalty, today applauded the Court for upholding a lower court's finding that the juvenile death penalty is unconstitutional.

Marsha Levick, Esq., legal director at Juvenile Law Center, commented on the impact of the decision:

"Today the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed what many states, the scientific community and virtually all other countries believe: the execution of juvenile offenders is cruel and unusual punishment and cannot be tolerated in civilized society.

"Children are distinctly different from adults in culpability, judgment and blame-worthiness, facts that make them ineligible for the death penalty. Christopher Simmons was 17 when he committed murder, an age at which adolescents' brains are not fully developed and teens may not understand the full consequences of their actions.

"We exclude minors from society in both significant and trivial ways. They cannot vote, enlist in the military, sit on juries or even get tattoos. The Court has now brought their eligibility for the death penalty in line with those exclusions.

"We are very pleased the Court has not only confirmed what we believe and science has proven -- that executing juveniles is wrong -- but also that the Court has now ended the isolation of the U.S. from most of the rest of the world in imposing and carrying out such executions."

The Missouri Supreme Court last year ruled that the Constitution forbids the execution of Christopher Simmons, who was 17 at the time of his offense. This ruling will impact 72 juvenile offenders currently on death row in the United States.

------

Founded in 1975, Juvenile Law Center (JLC) is a public interest law firm and one of the oldest organizations in the U.S. dedicated to protecting and advancing children's rights. JLC works to ensure that children are treated fairly by public systems intended to help them, and that they receive the full measure of the services they deserve.

http://www.usnewswire.com/

-0-

/© 2005 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/