USCCB/Amnesty International applauds new court restriction on death penalty for juvenile offenders

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March 2005

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USCCB/Amnesty International applaud new court restriction on death penalty for juvenile offenders
WASHINGTON(March 1, 2005)—The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which for 25 years has been calling for an end to the use of the death penalty, “is very encouraged that the United States Supreme Court has recognized that executing juvenile offenders is indeed cruel and unusual,” said Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.

DiMarzio, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Policy, commented on the March 1 Supreme Court decision that the Constitution forbids the execution of offenders who were under age 18 when they committed their crimes.

“This ruling affirms the position held by a broad cross section of religious denominations, child advocacy groups, and legal and medical organizations,” DiMarzio said.

“While we continue to work to oppose any use of the death penalty for what it does to human life and how it diminishes our society, we are pleased that the Supreme Court has confirmed that standards of decency have evolved and that the U.S. has joined the rest of the world in outlawing the executions of those who commit capital crimes as juveniles,” Bishop DiMarzio said.

The Supreme Court ruling will spare up to 70 inmates who are on death row for committing murders while aged 16 or 17. Passed by a 5-4 majority, the decision came in the case of Christopher Simmons, who was 17 in 1993 when he threw a woman to her death from a Missouri bridge. The jusctices ruled that juvenile execution conflicted with the 8th Amendment of the Constitution which outlaws "cruel and unusual punishment."

The swing vote came from Justice Anthony Kennedy, who normally sides with the conservatives on the bench. The decision brings the U.S. into line with the rest of the world. The execution of juveniles is explicitly banned by the U.N. convention on the rights of the child, which has been ratified by every country except the U.S. and Somalia, which has no recognised government.

Few industrialized nations maintain a death penalty, and the church has revised its catechism on the matter to argue that capital punishment is only defensible in societies that could not otherwise protect themselves. According to the catechism, such a necessity is hard to imagine in modern industrialized nations with their more than adequate security capacity.

In his decision, Kennedy cited the role of world opinion on the death penalty. "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, adding that there was an emerging national consensus against juvenile execution.

While capital punishment still has majority support in the U.S., this is the second significant judicial limit on its use in recent years. In 2002 the execution of people with mental retardation was similarly struck down by the court.

"Today (March 1) the court took a bold, courageous action in ensuring that evolving standards of decency are recognized, which allows the United States to join the rest of the international community," Amnesty International USA noted at its website. The group has long campaigned against the execution of juveniles in the United States and supports the complete abolition of capital punishment.

Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, said in a news release: "[T]he Court repudiated the misguided idea that the United States can pledge to leave no child behind while simultaneously exiling children to the death chamber. Now, the U.S. can proudly remove its name from the embarrassing list of human rights violators that includes China, Iran, and Pakistan—nations that still execute juvenile offenders. It can take pride in knowing that it is now in the company of the honorable nations that abandoned this antiquated practice years ago."

This is the full text of the statement by Bishop DiMarzio:

Response to U.S. Supreme Court Decision
Roper v. Simmons

Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Ph.D., D.D.
Chairman
Committee on Domestic Policy
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which for 25 years has been calling for an end to the use of the death penalty, is very encouraged that the Supreme Court has recognized that executing juvenile offenders is indeed cruel and unusual. Almost three years ago, the Court concluded that the execution of persons with mental retardation cannot be reconciled with the constitutional guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment. We are gratified to see the Supreme Court extend the same moral wisdom and legal reasoning to the use of the death penalty against those who committed capital crimes as juveniles. This ruling affirms the position held by a broad cross section of religious denominations, child advocacy groups, and legal and medical organizations.

In the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ brief on this case, in which 29 other religious groups joined, we pointed out with our colleagues in the Missouri Catholic Conference that persons under 18 cannot vote, serve in the military, make decisions about their own medical treatment, or even buy a pack of cigarettes, but until now they could be treated like adults for the purpose of the death penalty.

While we continue to work to oppose any use of the death penalty for what it does to human life and how it diminishes our society, we are pleased that the Supreme Court has confirmed that standards of decency have evolved and that the U.S. has joined the rest of the world in outlawing the executions of those who commit capital crimes as juveniles.

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