Clear Lake Topics: Death Penalty for

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	Name:	copperline -
	Subject:	Death Penalty for
	Date:	3/2/2005 6:17:07 AM

Well, the Court may have cited this as a context for the ruling but clearly international opinion wasn't the tipping point for their ruling. I think it's proper to rule against executing children, and when you are under 18 you are legally a child. To me, this has to do with both mercy and a recognition that immaturity does limit a child's judgement & decision - making. Unforturnately, it's all too possible for a child (even a pre-teen) to commit hideous crimes because they don't (or can't) control their violent impulses and selfish drives... There have even been cases of kids murdering younger siblings or plotting together to poison a teacher, but when would it ever be OK to execute a child?

And to address the international opinion point a bit: perhaps we need to take another look at this. Listening to international opinion may not always be a bad thing, in fact it may be dangerous not to. Have we been right all the time? I think of the US as a world leader, so we'd better live up to our highest principles. For instance, how can we oppose the use of children as soldiers if we don't make this sort of vital distinction between children and adults in our own legal system?