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12 and in Prison

By Steve Hall

That's the title of today's New York Times lead editorial.  LINKThe Supreme Court sent an important message when it ruled in Roper v. Simmons in 2005 that children under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed were not eligible for the death penalty. Justice Anthony Kennedy drew on compassion, common sense and the science of the youthful brain when he wrote that it was morally wrong to equate the offenses of emotionally undeveloped adolescents with the offenses of fully formed adults. The states have followed this logic in death penalty cases. But they have continued to mete out barbaric treatment ? including life sentences ? to children whose cases should rightly be handled through the juvenile courts. Congress can help to correct these practices by amending the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, which is up for Congressional reauthorization this year...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on July 28, 2009 (boomark / email).