Supreme Court says no more executing young murderers

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

A closely divided Supreme Court ruled today that it's unconstitutional to execute juvenile killers, ending a practice in 19 states -- including Texas -- that has been roundly condemned by many of America's closest allies.

The 5-4 decision throws out the death sentences of 72 murderers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes and bars states from seeking to execute minors for future crimes. In Texas, 29 people on death row were juveniles when they committed their crimes, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The executions, the court said, violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

And

"Today, the court repudiated the misguided idea that the United States can pledge to leave no child behind while simultaneously exiling children to the death chamber," said William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA.

"Now the U.S. can proudly remove its name from the embarrassing list of human rights violators that includes China, Iran, and Pakistan that still execute juvenile offenders," he said.

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Of course, I'm of the opinion that allowing the state to take the lives of citizens is immoral in and of itself, but executing people for crimes they committed when they were underage is particularly egregious. Note that the US was alone among industrialized nations in its willingness to put teenagers to death: until now, we were in a club with such famed human rights supporters as China, Iran, and Pakistan. Capital punishment is, unfortunately, still legal in the US. However, today's decision, along with the decision a while back that illegalized the death penalty for the mentally retarded, brings us one step closer to eliminating this bizarre, barbaric, and archaic practice. I hope I live to see the day.

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