Supreme Court rules against executions of juveniles
By
Gloria Rubac
Published Mar 2, 2005 10:47 AM
"This is a major victory for all abolitionists!
Another leg has been kicked out from under the table of the racist, anti-poor
death penalty," exclaimed Njeri Shakur through tears of joy March 1, upon
finding out that the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled five to four that executing
juveniles is cruel and unusual punishment.
This ruling affects the 72
people on death rows in the United States who were 16 or 17 when charged with
capital murder. Twenty-nine of these people are on death row in Texas.
The
last person sent to Texas death row was Robert Acuña, who was convicted
of capital murder last August. The defense tried to persuade the Houston
district attorney to delay the trial until this anticipated ruling, but the
district attorney refused.
Barbara Acuña told Workers World: "I was
so very happy and relieved with this ruling today. It has been so traumatic for
our family. I can't wait to see my son in the morning. I am grateful to all
those attorneys and activists who have fought for this."
Acuña and
other death-row mothers will speak at a news conference March 2, called by the
Texas Death Penalty Aboli tion Movement to speak about the ruling and the
effects on a family that has had a 17-year-old sent to be killed by the
state.
One of the most well-known juvenile cases in Texas was that of
Shaka Sankofa, executed in 2000. Another was Napoleon Beazley, executed in
2002.
Beazley's parents reacted to the ruling with mixed emotions. "We
know this is a victory and we are so very happy, but at the same time, our
hearts still ache for Napoleon. This ruling should have come sooner," they
said.
Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated in the United
States, 22 juveniles have been executed, 13 of them in Texas.
The first
execution of a juvenile offender was in 1642: Thomas Graunger, 16 years old, in
Plymouth Colony, Mass. In the 360 years since that time, approximately 365
persons have been executed for juvenile crimes.
The youngest known person
to be executed in the United States was James Arcene, a Native American boy who
was 10 years old at the time of his "crime."
Since World War II, the
youngest person to be executed in the United States was George Stinney, a
14-year-old African American boy who was so small, weighing only 95 pounds, that
the oversized mask fell off his face while he was being electrocuted by the
state of South Carolina.
Of the 73 juvenile offenders currently on death
row and those executed in the current era, two out of three have been either
African American or Latino.
Of the 10 female juvenile offenders executed
in the United States, eight were African-American and one was Native American.
In each of those cases, the victim was white.
Southern states account for
84 percent of all death sentences imposed on juvenile offenders since 1973. Only
three states--Texas, Florida and Alabama--account for half of those
sentences.
The independent mass struggle must continue until the racist,
anti-poor death penalty is abolished once and for all.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email:
[email protected]
Subscribe
[email protected]
Support independent news
DONATE