Killing kids: The juvenile death penalty and community sentiment

Abstract

In the Supreme Court's Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, ''community sentiment" plays a central if not dispositive role in determining if a punishment is disproportionate. T o gauge sentiment on the death penalty for juveniles, two experiments with death-qualified subjects were run, where age (a 15-25 age range) and cuse (heinousness) were varied in the first, and type of defendant (principal, accessory, or felony-murder accessory) and an extended age range (13-25) varied in the second. Significant uge effects occur in both experiments, with approximately 75% and 65% refusing to give the death penalty for the youngest (13-15) and next youngest (16-18) groups, whereas 60% give the death penalty for the 25-year-old. In their reasons for their decisions, the killing kid was judged less blameworthy and death-worthy. Although politicians have called for "a mansized punishment for a man-sized crime," this community does not see that "man-sized" punishment fitting the kid.

Reactions to youth crime: perceptions of accountability and competency*

“…Jensen et al, 2000;Stalans & Henry, 1994). For example, Crosby et al (1995) found that mock jurors were signi®cantly more likely to recommend the death sentence as the age of the defendant increased from 10 years to 19 years (see also Finkel, Hughes, Smith, & Hurabiell, 1994). A possible reason why a reliable age effect was not found in our study but was found in similar studies may be because of the nature of the dependent variable.…”

Life Without Parole: The Influence of Age and Race on the Sentencing of Juvenile Offenders

“…juveniles). Therefore, before making its decision in Roper (2005), the Supreme Court addressed the importance of determining community sentiments toward current law (Finkel, Hughes, Smith, & Hurabiell, 1994). Public sentiment was determined to be based on current state legislature along with jury sentencing practices.…”

“…For instance, previous studies have asked whether the respondent agrees or disagrees with sentencing a juvenile to life without parole, how strongly they agree or disagree, or for what categories of crimes or age groups would a life sentence be appropriate (Kubiak & Allen, 2008;Vogel & Vogel, 20003;Finkel, Hughes, Smith, & Hurabiell, 1994). Limited research has assessed community sentiment when presented with specified information, requiring individuals to decide the sentence of a particular juvenile offender.…”

“…Limited research has assessed community sentiment when presented with specified information, requiring individuals to decide the sentence of a particular juvenile offender. Finkel et al (1994) conducted an experiment to assess the community's stance on juvenile death penalty cases. In the first of a two-part study, the researchers were interested in assessing whether the perceived heinousness of a crime would outweigh the effects of age in sentencing a juvenile with the death penalty (Finkel et al, 1994).…”

“…Finkel et al (1994) conducted an experiment to assess the community's stance on juvenile death penalty cases. In the first of a two-part study, the researchers were interested in assessing whether the perceived heinousness of a crime would outweigh the effects of age in sentencing a juvenile with the death penalty (Finkel et al, 1994). In addition to heinousness of the crime, the age of the defendant was varied.…”