No more youths on death row

The Supreme Court has just abolished the death penalty for those under 18, ending a practice in 19 states.

The ruling continues the court's practice of narrowing the scope of the death penalty, which justices reinstated in 1976. Executions for those 15 and younger when they committed their crimes were outlawed in 1988. Three years ago justices banned death sentences for the mentally retarded.

Tuesday's ruling prevents states from making 16- and 17-year-olds eligible for execution.

Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in the 5-4 decision (which differs from the ruling 16 years ago that juvenile capital punishment was *not* cruel and unusual punishment).

Juvenile offenders have been put to death in recent years in only a few other countries, including Iran, Pakistan, China and Saudi Arabia. Kennedy cited international opposition to the practice.

"It is 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," he wrote.

The dissenters deny the presence of a trend in public opinion, and say that the issue should be left to the states. Victims rights decry the limitation of their options for revenge justice. I think that's everybody.

Except me. This seems like a blow in favor of civilization to me. I feel for the prosecutors (and victims) faced with seeming child psychopaths, but I'm not convinced that killing them is really getting to the root of the problem. (For that matter, I'm not convinced that killing anybody improves any measurable outcome, except perhaps the size of the stick that prosecutors bring to plea bargains. There are just too many examples of the wrong person ending up on death row for me to sleep well supporting our government's putting a permanent end to their appeals...)