Juvenile Death Penalty

Paper Summary:

The American criminal justice system executes a larger number of children than the rest of the world combined. This paper contends that the juvenile death penalty is completely blatantly racist in its structure, design, and application and is legally more arbitrary and capricious than the death penalty for adults.

Outline
Juvenile Death Penalty Is Racist
Juvenile Death Penalty Is Irrational
Juvenile Executions Contradict Treatment of Juveniles Generally
The Human Element of Juvenile Executions
Supreme Court Finally Strikes Down Juvenile Executions

From the Paper:

"But most critically, the error of executing children cannot be fully comprehended until one examines the individual cases of children who have been executed by the various states in America. Invariably, the children the state executes have four common characteristics: (1) they were often mentally ill or mentally retarded at the moment they committed they crime; (2) they were themselves the unfortunate victims of horrifying sexual and physical abuse; (3) they were victimized by a society which has one of the most stifling child poverty and infant mortality percentage-rates on Earth and which assigns many minorities to existences of hopelessness and grinding poverty; and, (4) they were represented by inexperienced, unskilled, uncaring and incompetent attorneys."

More papers on Juvenile Death Penalty:

• Research Paper # 92590 : "The Juvenile Death Penalty"
• Argumentative Essay # 106413 : "Juvenile Death Penalty"
• Term Paper # 98082 : "Juvenile Death Penalty"

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