FACTS ON THE JUVENILE DEATH
PENALTY
House Bill 691 eliminates death for anyone under 18. It is sponsored
by Rep. Eleanor Jordon, and co-sponsored by Reps. Barbara White Colter,
Porter Hatcher, Jr., Bob Heleringer, and Jim Wayne. It was assigned to
the House Judiciary Committee on February 24, 1998.
THE 1997 ABA MORATORIUM CALL IS BASED IN PART ON THE FACT THAT THE STATES
CONTINUE TO SENTENCE CHILDREN TO DEATH.
In the 1988 report of the Criminal Justice Section of the ABA, it was
stated that "The spectacle of our society seeking legal vengeance through
execution of a child should not be countenanced by the ABA."
THE JUVENILE DEATH PENALTY IS RACIST
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2/3rds of the 288 children executed in the nation’s history were black.
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100% of the 40 children executed in the U.S. for the crimes of rape or
attempted rape were black.
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2/3rds of children now on death row in the United States are black, including
the one individual on Kentucky’s death row who committed his crime as a
juvenile.
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Six of the seven children executed in Kentucky history have been black.
CHILDREN ARE DENIED MANY RIGHTS DUE TO THEIR INABILITY TO EXERCISE MATURE
AND SOUND JUDGMENT
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26th Amendment sets 18 as the age to vote.
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18 is the age of majority in Kentucky. KRS 2.015.
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21 is the age to buy and possess alcohol. KRS 244.080, .085, 087, .090.
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children are not allowed to contract until they are 18. KRS 371.010(2)
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children must be 18 before they are allowed to buy cigarettes. KRS 438.300.
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children must be 18 before donating their bodily organs. KRS 311.175
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children must be 18 generally (unless they are parents) before they are
allowed to make a will. KRS 394.020-030.
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children must be 18 (unless there is parental or judicial consent) in order
to marry. KRS 402.020
THE DEATH PENALTY IS LESS OF A DETERRENT FOR CHILDREN THAN IT IS FOR
ADULTS.
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children are often impulsive and reckless.
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children often have little concept of death.
THE DEATH PENALTY IS CONTRARY TO THE FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE OF THE JUVENILE
JUSTICE SYSTEM: THAT CHILDREN SHOULD BE TREATED, THAT SOCIETY SHOULD NOT
GIVE UP ON CHILDREN.
THE DEATH PENALTY IS SELDOM USED AGAINST CHILDREN
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Only 2% of the total of persons executed in this country were children
at the time of the crime.
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In Kentucky, only 2 juveniles were sentenced to death since 1976; only
one person remains on death row who was a juvenile at the time of his crime.
THE DEATH PENALTY IS USED IN ONLY HALF THE STATES FOR JUVENILES.
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in 14 states with the death penalty, 18 is the age of accountability.
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in 4 states, 17 year olds are eligible.
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in 21 states, 16 year olds are eligible for the death penalty.
THE UNITED STATES IS ISOLATED IN THE KILLING OF JUVENILES.
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since 1990, only 5 countries have executed juveniles—the United States,
Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.
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3/4ths of the nations of the world (73 of 93 reporting to the ABA in 1986)
set 18 as the minimum age for executions.
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In 1966, the General Assembly of the United Nations agreed that the "sentence
of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below 18
years of age…" President Carter signed this covenant for the United States
in 1978.
LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE HOLDS JUVENILES RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR CRIMES.
OTHER FACTS
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7 children were executed prior to 1800.
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97 children were executed prior to 1900.
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the youngest child to be executed in this country was 10.
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the Model Penal Code recommends against the death penalty for juveniles.
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of 13,847 legal executions in American history, 288 of them were of children.
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Kentucky has not executed a juvenile in 40 years.
The Advocate, Vol. 20, No. 2 (March 1998)
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