Re: [Leica] Americans. Now: baby killers

["Bryan Caldwell" <bcaldwell@softcom.net>]

The following statistics are provided by Amnesty International (and
verifiable through any number of sources):

"International law prohibits the execution of people who were under 18 at
the time of the crime.

"Most countries with the death penalty have laws exempting the execution of
juvenile offenders; the only other countries, besides the United States, in
which such executions are reported to have been carried out in the 1990s are
Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

"There have been 13 executions of juvenile offenders in the USA, including 7
in Texas. The 1st such execution in 20 years occurred in Texas in 1985.

"As of May, 1999, over 70 juvenile offenders are on death rows in the USA,
including 26 on death row in Texas; 24 of the 38 US states with the death
penalty have laws allowing the imposition of death sentences on juveniles.

"In June 1989, the US Supreme Court ruled that the execution of offenders as
young as 16 was permissible under the Constitution."

There is a little semanitcs involved, however. The issue is not whether a
juvenile has been executed (although that is possible) but whether a person
is executed for a crime that they committed while they were a juvenile.

Bryan
(I'm a public defender currently assigned to juvenile cases in California)

- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ----

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Cardish <dcardish@microtec.net>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Friday, October 01, 1999 9:42 AM
Subject: RE: [Leica] Americans. Now: baby killers


> This has got to be the goofiest thing I have read yet on the LUG.
> Absolutely idiotic.  Even the National Enquirer wouldn't try passing off
> such complete and total drivel.
>
> Dan C.
>
> At 10:41 AM 01-10-99 -0600, Tim Atherton wrote:
> >>
> >> At , dkgibson@hushmail.com wrote:
> >> >2. They are one of the last countries in the world which still execute
> >> >children; one of the few others being Afganistan. Although the US has
> >> >executed more children than Afganistan in the last few years.
> >>
> >> This is completely ludicrous. If it was happening, we would know
> >> about it.
> >> See, unlike the U.K. we have a free press.
> >
> >
> >Hmm,
> >
> >I don't recall all the details, but I do recall reading a longish article
> >about this in Vanity Fair I think, and also on Salon.com on the internet
I
> >think? I think the point of the article was that most Americans didn't
know
> >it was happening. Now, having just had a big magazine clear out, I will
have
> >to go and see if it still there...
> >
> >Tim A
> >
> >
> >
>
> NO ARCHIVE
>
>
>
>