Juveniles Ban On Cruel And Unusual Punishment

The Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty is not a violation of the Eight Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The death penalty is when a convicted criminal is put to death by the court. The execution method may not inflict unnecessary pain on the criminal. The criminal sentenced to death can wait several years or sometimes decades on death row before being executed. The juvenile death penalty is a controversial issue all over the country. Studies show that the characteristics of a juvenile on death row are: Low IQ, low level of education, psychological/neurological disorders, intoxication at time of offense and dysfunctional family history. It has a long history in the United States and dates back to the 17th century.
Since then Some believe the juvenile death penalty should be categorized as cruel and unusual punishment. They also ask why is it permissible to treat juveniles as adults when it comes to punishing them. Critics also contend that the national consensus is against the death penalty, so it should be declared unconstitutional. Those who support the death penalty believe that punishment should be based not on the juveniles age, but on the severity of the crime. If you do the adult crime, you should pay the adult time, even if it means with your life. Juveniles know that murder is wrong and should be punished accordingly. In 2004 71 juveniles were on death row for juvenile crimes. These 71 are about 2% of the total death row population and were all about 16-17 years old at the time of the crime. All of the juveniles on death row are males and all were sentenced and convicted of