Juvenile Death Penalty - Essay Example

The landmark case in this regard was Roper v. Simmons where the Supreme Court of America decided by a one vote majority that the death penalty should not be upheld for juvenile criminals. The decision of the court noted that a juvenile offender who commits a heinous crime may be asked to give up the liberties given to him/her. However, the court did not see it fit to execute him/her without allowing him/her the chance to obtain a more mature understanding of life and living (Steiker, 2006). The supporters of the decision say that the Supreme Court did its duty in reaffirming the necessity of working with the evolving standards of society where juvenile death penalty is unacceptable.

This shows that the American public has matured enough to realize that the death penalty may not be the best deterrent to keep low crime levels. To many liberals, this approach shows human decency and leniency that the courts have traditionally shown to minors in the past. However, for some this is a mistake that could lead to the creation of more juvenile criminals who will not think about the repercussions of their actions when the commit crimes (Mears, 2005). The reasons given by the Supreme Court in support of their decision to declare the juvenile death penalty as unconstitutional were connected largely with how various American states view the death penalty.

The majority of states have rejected the death penalty for minors while others seldom hand out death sentences. Of course it remains on the books in some states but the judicial and political trend is towards the abolition of the death penalty for minors and it is unlikely that it will be given to any new offenders (Mears, 2005). At the same time, there are those who say that this is merely a step towards abolishing the death penalty altogether and it becomes part of the greater debate on having the death penalty at all or not.

It has been reported by Amnesty International that