It’s encouraging to see the U.S. policy on the execution of minors getting some much needed attention.
A broad array of individuals and groups ranging from Jimmy Carter to Mikhail Gorbachev and the American Medical Association to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged the Supreme Court yesterday to declare that it is unconstitutional to execute people for crimes they committed before turning 18.
As Demagogue’s Eugene Oregon noted this morning, our policy puts us in a terribly disturbing group.
According to this article, there are exactly 9 countries that still execute juvenile offenders: Iran, Pakistan, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United States.
And between 1990 and 2003, we’ve executed more of them than the rest of the world combined.
The mind reels.