U.S. Supreme Court Abolishes Juvenile Death Penalty

U.S. Supreme Court Abolishes Juvenile Death Penalty

NCADP March 01, 2005
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NATIONAL COALITION TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT:

David Elliot, NCADP Communications Director

202-543-9577, ext. 16

cell phone: 202-607-7036

delliot [at] ncadp.org

http://www.ncadp.org

920 Pennsylvania Ave. SE

Washington, D.C. 20003

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March 1, 2005 -

"This decision confirms what we all know and what science recently has proven: kids are different," said Diann Rust-Tierney, NCADP executive director. "Kids are different from adults and by their very nature cannot qualify as the 'worst of the worst' standard used by some to justify a sentence of death."

Rust-Tierney noted that a historically broad coalition of national civil rights groups, religious denominations, legal organizations and medical associations had urged the court to strike down the juvenile death penalty. In addition, polls demonstrate solid public opposition against the practice.

"We applaud the fact that the court recognized the strong consensus against the juvenile death penalty," Rust-Tierney said. "This consensus is further evidence that the U.S. public does not want the death penalty applied too broadly."

Including Missouri, from which Roper v. Simmons sprang, 31 states ban the execution of juvenile offenders. Of the remaining states, only 12 have juvenile offenders on death row. They are Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. To read more about the juvenile death penalty and learn about NCADP's Campaign to End Juvenile Executions, please visit

http://www.ncadp.org/juvenile_action.html

During the past two decades, 22 juvenile offender executions have occurred in the United States, including 13 in the state of Texas. Nine such executions have occurred since the year 2000. Six of those nine took place in Texas and involved an African American offender. The other three executions took place in Oklahoma and Virginia. More than half of the juvenile offenders on death row are housed in two states (Alabama and Texas) and about two-thirds are people of color.

"Today the United States takes a major step toward joining the 21st Century," Rust-Tierney said. "The U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed that standards of decency have evolved and the execution of youthful offenders is indeed a cruel and unusual practice. Today the Court sends a signal to the few states that still execute juvenile offenders that this inhumane practice is no longer an option."

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The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty was founded in 1976 and is the only fully-staffed national organization devoted specifically to abolishing the death penalty. NCADP is comprised of more than 100 local, state, national and international affiliates.

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