Castia Hunter ENC 1102 MWF 930-1015 Introduction From the 1960s up until this present day there

has been a very controversial topic that is sizzling on all Supreme Court justices, lawyers, and citizens lips. That topic concerns whether or not juveniles should be able to be sentenced the death penalty when a murder or heinous crime has been committed. The following annotations provide some insight on the different views that have arisen within the conversation. Although everyone has their own opinions, there are three main views that frequently keep reoccurring within these annotations. One side of the argument claims that juveniles are old enough to make informed decisions, so any crime that has been committed should be punishable by the full extent of the law. Another side claims that juveniles are still developing and they are immature so they can easily be influenced. Authors on this side of the argument believe that the juveniles can be taken and rehabilitated and corrected. The third view of this argument approaches the juvenile death penalty in a biological aspect by analyzing the brain and the sections that control development and decision making skills. These annotations come from academic articles, news reports, and scholarly journals. There are also online government files and direct quotes from citizens that will be analyzed.

Annotated Bibliography Steinberg, Laurence, Elizabeth Cauffman, et al. "Are Adolescents Less Mature Than Adults? Minors Access to Abortion, the Juvenile Death Penalty, and the Alleged APA Flip-Flop." American Psychologist. 64.no.7 (2009): 583-594. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. According to an academic journal written by Steinberg, Cauffman, Woolard, Graham, and Banich, members of the American Psychological Association, the APAS definition of how old a juvenile should be in order to be sentenced to the death penalty is being held to a double standard. Basically, the argument is

Castia Hunter ENC 1102 MWF 930-1015 that there is no definite way to tell whether a child is mature enough to be sentenced to the death penalty. In the article it is stated that a 17 year old is mature enough to decide whether or not they want to abort their child, but a 17 year old that has committed a heinous crime has not matured enough to make adult decisions and to look beyond peer pressure. The 4 psychologist have researched court cases about the verdicts given in juvenile cases, as well as psychological experiments that were ran to compare the mind of mid 20 year olds to teenagers to see if they are on the same level. This information is important to my studies because it helps to give me insight on the criteria that is used in order to be able to sentence a minor. Through this article, I have found that there is no set method or rules when it comes to the age limit of the death penalty. It is also helpful because in some ways, that juvenile should not be given the death penalty because their minds are still developing and growing. They should at least get the life sentence instead so they can grow and realize their flaws and mistakes. Baldwin, Rodger. "Juveniles and the Death Penalty." American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU Foundation, 11 May 2004. Web. 27 Feb 2013. <http://www.aclu.org/capitalpunishment/juveniles-and-death-penalty>. In this online journal written by the American Civil Liberties Union, giving a juvenile the death penalty is a gruesome and horrible thing to do. Within this journal it is stated that we recognize that children, those under 18 years old, cannot and do not function as adults. Their argument is that how can law prohibit people under eighteen from voting, serving in the military and on juries, but in some states, they can be executed for crimes they committed before they reach adulthood. The members of this group then go on to criticize how much of a hypocrite the U.S is because internationally,

Castia Hunter ENC 1102 MWF 930-1015 the execution of juveniles is largely considered inhumane, anachronistic, and in direct conflict with fundamental principles of justice, yet many of the countries that the United States government regularly criticizes for human rights abuses have abolished the practice of executing juveniles. This information is important to my studies because it gives me the perspective of ordinary people that feel giving juveniles the death penalty should be banned. Although this article gives me the perspective of the people, there is no prove that any of the people in this group have a degree or evidence to show that they have had experience in the criminal justice field. Lane , Charles. "5-4 Supreme Court Abolishes Juvenile Executions." Washington Post. 02 Mar 2004: A01. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A625842005Mar1.html>. According to an accredited journalist at The Washington Post, in 2004, the Supreme Court ruled to abolish capital punishment for juvenile offenders. They ruled 5 to 4 that it is unconstitutional to sentence anyone to death for a crime he or she committed while younger than 18. The court said its judgment, which overturned a 1989 ruling that had upheld the death penalty for 16- and 17-year-old offenders, was also influenced by a desire to end the United States' international isolation on the issue. The ruling was the second time in three years the court had carved out a new categorical exception to the death penalty, having banned capital punishment for the moderately mentally retarded in 2002. I found this journal to be very interesting because it supported some of what my other sources were saying. It spoke about how the U.S was perceived to be inhumane my other countries around the world and we felt the need to change. Also, The fact that the U.S has to keep revisiting these cases about the laws of juvenile death penalty shows that there is no stable

Castia Hunter ENC 1102 MWF 930-1015 way of determining whether a minor is mature enough to be held accountable for their actions. This same theme can be seen in my first annotation. This news article was very helpful in many ways, but one must be careful when it comes to journalist who report on political topics because a lot of information gets skewed and distorted. Curtis A. Bradley, The Juvenile Death Penalty and International Law, 52 Duke Law Journal 485-557 (2002). In this scholarly journal, Bradley Curtis, a graduate from Duke Law School, examines and evaluates the claim that the United States' use of the juvenile death penalty violates international law. (Curtis 1) Curtis method of research is to compare international laws to the laws here in the states. His position on the issue is that even though a lot of countries have banned juvenile death penalty and are pressuring the United States to ban it also, nothing is going to happen until the U.S can solve it through a democratic and constitutional process. This article is of relevance to me because it is the least unbiased document that I have discovered. This article does not exactly take a side on whether or not the juvenile death penalty is right or wrong , but instead it looks at the legal aspects of why even if the U.S wanted abolish it, it would take a long amount of time because of how our legal system is set up. Finkel, Norman, Kevin Hughes, Smith, Stephanie,and Mane Hurabiell. "Killing kids: The juvenile death penalty and community sentiment." Wiley Online Library vol 12 ( 2006): 5-20. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bsl.2370120103/citedby#. Web. 10 Mar. 2013 According to the online article written by Finkel, Hughes, Smith et.al, the Supreme Court's Eighth Amendment, which deals community sentiment, plays a central role in determining if a punishment is appropriate. Two experiments with death-qualified subjects were run,

Castia Hunter ENC 1102 MWF 930-1015 where age (a 1525 age range) and case (heinousness) were varied in the first, and type of defendant (principal, accessory, or felony-murder accessory) and an extended age range (1325) varied in the second. Significant age effects occur in both experiments, with approximately 75% and 65% refusing to give the death penalty for the youngest (1315) and next youngest (1618) groups, whereas 60% give the death penalty for the 25-year-old. In their reasons for their decisions, the killing kid was judged less blameworthy and deathworthy. (Finkel 5). This article is of relevance to my study because this is one of the only cases where an actual experiment was conducted. The results from the experiment show that even though a minor and an adult could commit the same crime, citizens are most likely going to be more lenient to the minor. If most people feel that giving a minor the death penalty is unlawful, then the U.S should work towards abolishing the death penalties for minors. Although this information is very useful, I could not find the accreditation for the authors of this article. Nwazota, Kristina. Ed. "Supreme Court Declares Juvenile Death Penalty Unconstitutional ." News Hour. PBS, 2 Mar. 2005. Web. 9 Mar.2013 <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june05/death_3-02.html>. According to the news report from News Hour on PBS, because the United States is one of only three countries to maintain the practice of executing juvenile offenders, Iran and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the others. Many people argue that the practice is cruel and archaic. On the other hand, many argue that 16 and 17 year olds are capable of understanding the difference between right and wrong and are capable of making a decision about whether to kill or not. Justices who were against the decision criticized the court for taking power away

Castia Hunter ENC 1102 MWF 930-1015 from the states and said the United States should not consider what others do in making laws. This news report gives insight on how other countries like America that still enforce the death penalty for juveniles reasoning for keeping the death penalty. A key comment was made within this article that the U.S should not be concerned with others have to say about them. This clearly demonstrates the view point of the jurors who want to keep the death penalty. They believe that if the criminals are adult enough to commit the crime, they should be adult enough to handle the punishment that they will receive. Throughout these articles am I have begun to notice a trend in the conversation, which is the fact that the juvenile death penalty is a controversial topic that has just as many people for it as it is against it. (Porter,Clarence "The Death Penalty for Juveniles." Capital punishment in context. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb 2013. <http://www.capitalpunishmentincontext.org/>.)? Some jurors might believe that a defendant like Johnny Penry with a low IQ might be more likely to commit future crimes, perhaps because he could not learn from his mistakes or be deterred by the law. That ruling forced Texas to change the way juries were instructed in death penalty cases. Juries needed to understand that a persons mental retardation should at least be considered as reason for giving him a life sentence. Gary Grahams lawyers believed that the same reasoning should apply to a defendants youth. They took their case all the way to the Supreme Court, but were told that the ruling in Penry did not apply to Graham because it was not retroactive, i.e., it would only apply to future cases. (Graham v. Collins). In a later ruling, the Court held that even in a case where Penry did apply, a defendants youth is not

Castia Hunter ENC 1102 MWF 930-1015 the same as a defendants mental retardation. Texas law did not have to change to give special consideration to the age of the defendant. (Johnson v. Texas). Baldwin, Rodger. "Juveniles and the Death Penalty." American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU Foundation, 11 May 2004. Web. 27 Feb 2013. <http://www.aclu.org/capitalpunishment/juveniles-and-death-penalty>. According to the ACLU, a group of citizens who are heavily involved in politics, juveniles are immature, adolescent children and also more likely to be coached by adults and are sometimes the mentees for more advanced criminals. They are also more likely to be taken advantage of during the investigation of a criminal case. Juveniles are often intimidated by adults and authority figures, and are therefore more likely to be the victims of coerced confessions, which are often false. Moreover juveniles are less likely to invoke their Miranda Rights, including their right to legal representation. Most importantly, the goals of the death penalty do not apply to juveniles. (Baldwin 5) The point of giving the death penalty is to give the harshest punishment to the worst offenders. Many people who oppose the death penalty have stated that juveniles are the most likely to be capable of rehabilitation. Given their emotional immaturity, jurors believe that they are not among the ""worst of the worst." This article is of relevance to my annotated bibliography because it takes a strong stand point on why the death penalty for juveniles should be abolished. Once again, due to the fact that it was a four to five vote of the jurors who decided to get rid of the death penalty in most states, you can see that this conversation is a concern of the citizens. Benekos, Peter, and Alida Merlo. "Juvenile Offenders and the Death Penalty : How Far Have Standards of Decency Evolved?." Sage Journals vol 3.no4 (2005): 1-19.

Castia Hunter ENC 1102 MWF 930-1015 http://yvj.sagepub.com/content/3/4/316.full.pdf+html. Web. 10 Mar.2013. Surveys since the 1950s have indicated that the majority of citizens in the United States favor the death penalty for a person convicted of murder. In agreeing to review the case of Roper v. Simmons (2005), the Supreme Court justices suggested that they were prepared to assess the national consensus on the death penalty for juveniles in the same way they did for mentally retarded in 2002, in the Atkins (2002) case. The meaning of cruel and unusual has changed considerably over time, death penalty is disproportionate (too large in comparison with something else) punishment for offenders under 18 (Roper v. Simmons, 2005, p. 21). Basically, the Supreme Court has decided that comparing a mentally retarded person to an adolescent who has committed a crime is not a fair comparison to make. The big difference between a mind that is undeveloped and a mind that is chemically and even physically distorted is a new view that has been thrown into the conversation. The relevance of this particular article is to show the new portal of the conversation that is opened. Not only do you now have to compare adolescents to adults and hold them accountable, but now it has to be evaluated whether or not mentally challenged adolescents should be held to the same standards as regular minors. Cothern, Lynn. United States. U.S. Department of Justice. Juveniles and the Death Penalty. Acting Administrator, 2000. Web. <https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/184748.pdf>.A primary purpose of the juvenile justice system is to hold juvenile offenders accountable for delinquent acts while providing treatment, rehabilitative services, and programs designed to prevent future involvement in law-violating behavior.(Cothern 2) Established in 1899 in Chicago, IL, in response to the harsh treatment children received in the criminal justice

Castia Hunter ENC 1102 MWF 930-1015 system, the first juvenile court recognized the developmental differences between children and adults and espoused a rehabilitative ideal. Cotherns passive approach to opposing the juvenile death by offering an alternative is very interesting to me. Instead of outright using harsh words and negative tactics in order to get rid of the juvenile death penalty, she turns it into a positive by finding something to replace it. This article holds weight due to the fact that Cotherns works for the department of justice, which means that an informed discussion has been made with statistics and facts taken into consideration. "Juvenile Death Penalty: Fair or Unfair? | Fox News." Editorial. Fox News. FOX News Network, 28 Feb. 2005. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. Although the specific author is unknown, Fox News felt that this topic was important enough to cover this. Fox made it very clear that they were for the juvenile death penalty when using Christopher Simmons as their prime example. Simmons was sentenced to death for robbing and killing the 46-year-old housewife. He was 17 years old at the time. The statement was made in the article that Simmons should have died for his crime 2 years ago. There were not many statistics or facts that went along with this article. Also, there was a lot of biased spotted within this article. Even the people that were interviewed only showed one view, that the death penalty for juveniles was one of the best things that couldve happened. A direct quote from the article went like this, You can absolutely forgive the offender and have no issue with that person being executed," said Dianne Clements, a founder of Texas-based Justice. In 1991, her 13-year-old son was shot and killed by another child. This article has a lot of flaws and

Castia Hunter ENC 1102 MWF 930-1015 biased opinions, but it does show the perspective of citizens that live in Texas, which has one of the highest numbers of juveniles executed. From the parents responses, it can be inferred that the crime rate amongst juveniles must be very high in the state. Montaldo, Charles. "Supreme Court Strikes Down Juvenile Death Penalty." About.com. N.p., 12 Jan 2002. Web. 14 Mar 2013. <http://crime.about.com/od/death/a/juvenile_ban.htm>. The court says that what our people's laws say about the issue does not matter. In the end our own judgment will be brought to bear on the question of the acceptability of the death penalty. The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to outlaw the death penalty for juveniles who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crimes, calling the execution of children unconstitutionally cruel. The ruling ended up leading to the tossing out of the death sentences of 70 juvenile murderers who were currently on death row in the United States. The ban was not totally unexpected, according to reporters, since the court had previously voted to ban the executions of criminals who were under 16 years of age. Brown, Stephen. "Death Penalty for Minors." USLEGAL.com. US legal inc, n.d. Web. 15 Mar 2013. <http://deathpenalty.uslegal.com/minors/death-penalty-for-minors/>. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry, and the American Psychiatric Association have pointed out certain facts to disfavor death penalty for children under the age of eighteen. The second vital piece of information is that the decision making process in adulthood is controlled by the amygdala, known as the most primitive part of the human brain and therefore the center of impulses and emotions. The amygdala performs a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions. Therefore, the amygdala controls human behavior and emotions

Castia Hunter ENC 1102 MWF 930-1015 including creating fear in the mind of a person. This stage is developed only during adolescence. Transformation from the stage of childhood to adolescence must be kept in the mind while deciding a case against children under the age of eighteen.