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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper considers the issue of capital punishment for juvenile offenders. Over the course of the past two decades, the issue of capital punishment and its application for juvenile offenders has been at the heart of legal debates. In 1988, the United States Supreme Court, in their decision in the case of Thompson v. Oklahoma (487 U.S. 815 (1988)), argued that the use of capital punishment for minors constituted "cruel and unusual punishment" as defined by the Eighth Amendment. Just one year later, in the case of Stanford v. Kentucky (492 U.S. 361 (1989)), the Court held that the Eighth Amendment did not categorically oppose the use of capital punishment for 16 or 17 year old juvenile offenders. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: MH11_MHCapPuL.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
United States Supreme Court, in their decision in the case of Thompson v. Oklahoma (487 U.S. 815 (1988)), argued that the use of capital punishment for minors constituted "cruel and
unusual punishment" as defined by the Eighth Amendment. Just one year later, in the case of Stanford v. Kentucky (492 U.S. 361 (1989)), the Court held that the Eighth
Amendment did not categorically oppose the use of capital punishment for 16 or 17 year old juvenile offenders. The arguments that were presented and the use of the Eighth
Amendment suggest that there are significantly differing views over the application of capital punishment in juvenile cases. In fact recent years, the Missouri case of Christopher Simmons (Roper v.
Simmons) brought to light the fact that the debates still continue to challenge the decision-making process of the courts and the application of the Eighth Amendments "cruel and unusual punishment"
clause. The United States has addressed the constitutionality of capital punishment, and this has been used as a central argument when claims that it should not be applied to juvenile
offenders are made. If capital punishment in itself can be deemed a credible means of resolution when applied to the general population (meaning that it is not considered cruel
and unusual punishment for the general population), it can be argued that it can in fact be applied to juvenile offender populations. At the same time, arguments against
the application of capital punishment in situations where individuals have behavioral or cognitive limitations that diminish their moral culpability appear to be a distinguishing element. The question, then, is
whether children between the ages of 16 and 18 are then morally culpable, or if age alone is a behavioral or cognitive limitation that should diminish their responsibilities and impact
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