Juvenile Death Penalty
Earlier this week, the US Supreme Court upheld a Missouri Supreme Court's decision declaring the death penalty unconstitutional and "cruel and unusual punishment" for minors. It was a pretty tight decision, 5-to-4.
As an opponent of the death penalty in any form, I was pleased by the ruling. But, I don't necessarily agree with the establishment of an arbitrary (in my opinion) age limit on executions. I would argue that there are some very mature 17 year olds who know exactly what they're doing, while there are also some very immature 19 year olds who have no conception of the consequences of their actions. How we can say that one should die and another should live? I believe the death penalty is wrong in any case because we as fallible humans ourselves do not have the ultimate authority to end another's life. That belongs only to God. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't have any punishments for heinous crimes. I believe that a life sentence without the possibility of parole should still be applied; I just don't think we can ever say that someone else deserves to die. That's not up to us.
In his dissent, Justice Scalia raised a second issue (and in my opinion, the more compelling one)--the notion that the Supreme Court is not/should not be in the business of making moral judgments for the entire nation, especially when state legislatures have considered and enacted their own standards. Just what should the Supreme Court's role be in a case like this?
posted by ze roberto @ 3/04/2005 08:10:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Wonderfully well-said, Harris. I agree on all counts. It also makes me wonder about the "Law & Order Repulicans" who favor the death penalty and oppose abortion... how do they reconcile these views?
If God alone has the right to determine when life begins and ends, why would they support the State's "right to execute" while opposing citizens' "right to choice". I myself am anti-death penalty and anti-abortion -- believing in both instances that humans shouldn't decide what God alone decides.
Interesting point about pro-death penalty, anti-abortion folks. I wonder if they feel that state-sanctioned executions are OK because the state derives its authority from God; whereas the individual doesn't have the authority to make life/death decisions on their own. I see another parallel between the two issues as well: the notion that 18 is an age when we can be held accountable for our actions, up to and including death, and the controversy over at what stage of development a fetus constitutes a life. How can a line be drawn in either case? Isn't a life a life?
Personally, I count myself as steadfastly against the death penalty. I have a harder time with the abortion issue. The part of me that wants to preseve life in any form is against abortion; but the civil libertarian in me wants to be pro-choice. But, if abortion is really extinguishing a life to be, then it really shouldn't be a choice--I wouldn't support the right for someone to choose to murder someone else. I don't know... I guess I'm still working it out.
Post a Comment
<< Home