Children on death row.

[Jerlene]

Do you think children should be eligible for death row?

I absolutely believe they should. If someone older did the same exact crime and the death penalty was a result of that then the child should endure the same consequences. I don't care about age here. If you're old enough to do the crime, you're old enough to do the time.
But I'm sure others feel different and I'd love to hear other peoples' opinions.

 

[JRT]

That depends very much on the age of the child and the circumstances. Children are not born with a fully formed conscience and gain the ability to perceive the consequences of their actions only after a period of time. This is not a cut and dried situation.

 

[Josiah]

I'm opposed to the death penalty.

 

[NewCreation435]

There are some who are technically still considered "minors" but are old enough that they clearly should have known better and could still be charged as an adult such as a 15 year old or some who are older who murder or commit other offenses.

 

[psalms 91]

I agree with the last post that there are those who should be tried as adults but I strongly disagree with nthe death penelty as it stand s in the USA. To many innocent people have been sentanced to death

 

[ValleyGal]

I do not agree with the death penalty, but if I did, I think there would need to be an assessment done by a developmental psychologist to determine development of conscience, morals, and capacity. An 8-yar-old might be in such a strong tantrum and stab a parent to death in that tantrum, but developmentally, they are far too young to understand the consequences of the actions. A 17-year-old is MORE responsible, but even at that age, their brains are under-developed, though their knowledge of laws is likely enough that they are responsible and could be tried and sentenced as an adult. I also think fMRI should be part of the assessment, as for some people with mental illnesses, there can be lesions on certain parts of the brain that affect conscience and moral development.

 

[Lucian Hodoboc]

I'm opposed to the death penalty.

This.^

I think that no one should be on death row (unless there's a clear divine sign, that can be confirmed by the large majority of people on earth, ordering the execution). Vengeance belongs to God.

 

[hedrick]

The reason there's a separate justice system for minors is that children's decision-making capabilities aren't fully formed. Even at 18. I don't think we always take advantage of that difference to treat children and youth in ways that will help them develop. But the distinction still make sense, and the seriousness of the crime is not relevant.

 

[tango]

Without getting into the discussion of whether the death penalty is appropriate, I think that if you do the crime you do the time. Some legal systems have the concept of diminished responsibility that covers situations where someone was triggered by some kind of long-standing problem and did something they might not normally do. This is different from justified homicide - we're not talking about a battered wife who finally fights back with deadly force, but perhaps a situation when a neighbor who has endured noise all day and all night for weeks finally pays the offending neighbor a visit and someone ends up dead.

The trouble with an objectively defined "age of responsibility" is that the pressure is always on to raise it, and children below the age can run riot while the law is powerless to do anything about it. Needless to say gangs then start using younger children to carry out their dirty work knowing that, even if the kids get caught, the police can literally do nothing.

 

[MeowsePad]

Nobody should be on death row. The death penalty is more expensive than life imprisonment, impossible to apply fairly, and simply barbaric. It also has been confirmed to be an ineffective deterrent to crime by study after study. There also is virtually no way to be one hundred percent sure that someone is guilty. Even DNA and eyewitness accounts can be inaccurate. Videos can be manipulated or misinterpreted. It's a lot easier to let someone who is found to be innocent out of jail than to resurrect someone from the dead...