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Should We Execute Children?

March 2, 2005

(broadcast stream ) (.mp3 download)
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court held that people who commit crimes under the age of 18 cannot be executed by the State.
Is this a wise decision? What will be its impact?
High above the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, the words are inscribed: “EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW.” But if poor criminal defendents get a lesser justice because they can’t afford decent attorneys, doesn’t that motto ring hollow?
Mark will discuss the current state of justice for criminal defendants with Ryan King, Research Associate for The Sentencing Project, which promotes reduced reliance on incarceration and increased use of more effective and humane alternatives to deal with crime.

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  • cody February 22, 2006 2:33 pm

    im am doing a 4 page research paper about ” should volent teens be exicuted and i was wandering if i could get some help
    if you have info e-mail me at [email protected]

  • Vindicated December 15, 2005 9:51 am

    on the whole lower voting age and consensual sex issue, i believe that the decision should be up to whoever is making the choices, if you want to have sex, go ahead, and most people that Can vote don’t, so what would be the harm in lowering the legal voting age?

  • Vindicated December 15, 2005 9:49 am

    I agree with both Nathan and Vicky, we already have so many luxuries provided to us teens in the U.S. and it is just selfish to put ourselves another step up from the other third world countries who already have child executions.

  • Vicky March 6, 2005 10:29 am

    Mark,
    I, too, agree with Nathan’s views on the age thing. They can vote and smoke and go to war at 18, but they can’t drink until they’re 21.
    I’m not saying I think “children should be executed”!! I was just thinking about how sheltered and protected our kids are here in America compared to so many around the world. Or just how much easier the kids have life now than they did even a generation ago.
    Strike my comment.

  • Mark Levine March 6, 2005 9:42 am

    Vicky,
    I thought Nathan had a good point. We don’t let children under 18 vote. We don’t even let them have sex (as they do in most countries at the age of 16, in some places 14.) How can we execute them?
    Do you believe in lowering the voting age? And lowering the age for consensual sex?