Two (2) reply needed asap

Celeste Holmes Reply needed (1)

Sunday Dec 1 at 9:07pm

Kennedy	Scalia
“As the Court explained in Atkins, the Eighth Amendment guarentees individuals the right not to be subjected to excessive sanctions” (pg. 323).	“In determining that capital punishment of offenders who committed murder before age 18 is ‘cruel and unusual’ under the Eighth Amendment, the Court first considers, in accordance with our modern (though in my view mistaken) jurisprudence, whether there is a ‘national consensus,’ that laws allowing such executions contravene our modern ‘standards pf decency’” (pg. 331).
“In Thompson v. Oklahoma, a plurality of the Court determined that our standards of decency do not permit the execution of any offender under the age of 16 at the time of the crime” (pg. 323).	To support its opinion that States should be prohibited from imposing the death penalty on anyone who committed murder before the age of 18, the Court looks to scientific and sociological studies, picking and choosing those that support its position. It never explains why those particular studies are methodologically sound; none was ever entered into evidence or tested in an adversarial proceeding” (pg. 335).
“The evidence of national consensus against the death penalty for juveniles is similar, and in some respects parallel, to the evidence Atkins held sufficient to demonstrate a national consensus against the death penalty for the mentally retarded” (pg. 325).	“As petitioner points out, the American Psychological Association (APA), which claims in this case that scientific evidence shows persons under 18 lack the ability to take moral responsibility for their decisions has previously taken precisely the opposite position before this very Court” (pg. 335).
“Because the death penalty is the most severe punishment, the Eighth amendment applies to it with special force. Capital punishment must be limited to those offenders who commit a ‘narrow category of the most serious crimes’ and whose extreme culpbility makes them ‘the most deserving of execution” (pg. 326).	“The Court concludes, however, that juries cannot be trusted with the delicate task of weighing a defendant’s youth along with the other mitigating and aggravating factors of his crime” (pg. 337).
“Our determination that the death penalty is disproportionate punishment for offenders under 18 finds confirmation in the stark reality that the United States is the only country in the world that continues to give official sanction to the juvenile death penalty” (pg. 329).	“To allow lower courts to behave as we do, ‘updating’ the Eighth Amendment as needed, destroys stability and makes our case calw an unreliable basis for the designing of laws by citizens and their representatives, and for action by public officials” (pg. 340).

I agree with Kennedy’s argument more, that yes, the death penalty is an unconstitutional punishment for juvenile offenders. I do not believe in the death penalty, period and I don’t think juveniles should have such an extreme punishment at such a young age. Kennedy makes a big deal about the Eighth Amendment and how it guarantees individuals the right not to be subjected to excessive sanctions. As Kennedy states, “By protecting even those convicted of heinous crimes, the Eighth Amendment reaffirms the duty of the government to respect the dignity of all persons.” He later explains that in the case, Thompson v. Oklahoma, the Court decided that it would offend civilized standards of decency to execute a person who was less that 16 years of age at the time of his or her offense (pg. 323).Therefore, according to the Eighth Amendment, it would be against the Constitution to implement the death penalty for juveniles because it wouldn’t respect their diginity. Not only is there constitutional and court support against the death penalty, especially for juveniles, but there’s national consensus against it as well. According to Kennedy, “30 States the juvenile death penalty, comprising 12 that have rejected the death penalty for juveniles altogether and 18 that maintain it but, by express provision or judicial interpretation, exclude juveniles from its reach” (pg. 325). With the majority of states rejecting the death penalty for juveniles and court support to reject juvenile execution, I think Kennedy is supported in saying that the death penalty is an unconstitutional punishment for juvenile offenders.

Xichun Zhou Reply needed (2)

Saturday Nov 30 at 11:45pm

Kennedy

Idea 1: The susceptibility of juveniles to immature and irresponsible behavior means “their irresponsible conduct is not as morally reprehensible as that of an adult.” Their own vulnerability and comparative lack of control over their immediate surroundings mean juveniles have a greater claims than adults to be forgiven for failing to escape negative influences in their own environment (p.327).                                  

Idea 2: Once the diminished culpability of juveniles is recognized, it is evident that the penological justifications for the death penalty apply to them with less force than to adults (p.327).

Idea 3: As for deterrence, it is unclear whether the death penalty has a significant or even measurable deterrent effect on juveniles, as counsel for the petitioner acknowledged at oral argument (p.328)

Idea 4: The differences between juvenile and adult offenders are too marked and understood to risk allowing a youthful person to receive death penalty despite insufficient culpability (p.328)

Idea 5: It’s proper that we acknowledge the overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty, resting in large part on the understanding that the instability and emotional imbalance of young people may often be a factor in the crime. The opinion of the world community, while not controlling our outcome, does provide respected and significant confirmation for our own conclusions (p.330).

Scalia

Idea 6: In repealing the death penalty, those 12 states considered non of the factors that the Court puts forth as determinative of the issue before us today---lower culpability of the young, inherent recklessness, lack of capacity for considered judgement, etc(p.332).

Idea 7: I also doubt whether many of the legislators who voted to change the laws in those four states would have done so if whey had known their decision would (by the pronouncement of this court) be rendered irreversible. After all, legislative support for capital punishment, in any form has surged and ebbed through out our Nation’s history (p.333).

Idea 8: The criminal justice system, by contrast, provides for individualized consideration of each defendant. In capital cases, this court requires sentencer to make an individualized determination, which includes weighing aggravating factors and mitigating factors such as youth. In other contexts where individualized consideration is provided, we have recognized that at least some minors will be mature enough to make difficult decisions that involve moral considerations (p.336).

Idea 9: The court says that juries will be unable to appreciate the significance of a defendant’s youth when faced with details of a brutal crime. This assertion is based on no evidence; to the contrary, the court itself acknowledges that the execution of under-18 offenders is “infrequent” even in the states “without a formal prohibition on executing juveniles”, suggesting that juries take seriously their responsibility to weigh youth as a mitigating factor (p.337).

Idea 10: We must disregard the new reality that, to the extent of our Eighth Amendment decisions constitute something more than a show of hands on the current justices’ current personal views about penology, they purport to be nothing more than a snapshot of American public opinion at a particular point in time (with the time frames now shortened to a mere 15 years) (p.340)

I personally think that Kennedy is more convincing. First, I agree his opinion that compared with adults, juveniles are much more vulnerable to the negative environment and less capable to take responsibility of their behaviors (p.327). Juveniles are physically as well as mentally immature, so I think they are prone to make some mistakes or even commit some crimes if they are not educated well by families and teachers, or they are influenced by the negative environment. Moreover, young people at puberty are more likely to be impulsive and make mistakes due to temporary impulsive emotions. Therefore, I think that they should not be equated with adults because of their immaturity in physiology, rebellion and irritability in psychology. Second, when it comes to the effect of death penalty to juveniles, Kennedy mentioned that we are not sure whether “the death penalty has a significant or even measurable deterrent effect on juveniles”(p.328). I think it may not be useful to use violence as a deterrent to young people who commit violence. On the contrary, it may make them feel more angry and unable to realize their mistakes. I think education and punishment are more effective than death penalty. Guiding them on what is right is far better than the death penalty. Therefor, I think Kennedy is more convincing.