Juveniles are often intimidated by adults and authority figures, and are therefore more likely to be the victims of coerced confessions, which are often false. They are also more likely to be taken advantage of during the investigation of a criminal case. These findings confirm that adolescents generally have a greater tendency towards impulsivity, making unsound judgments or reasoning, and are less aware of the consequences of their actions.īecause of their immaturity, adolescent children are also more likely to be coerced by adults and are sometimes the pawns for more sophisticated criminals. Development is not completed until somewhere between 18 and 22 years of age. Studies by the Harvard Medical School, the National Institute of Mental Health and the UCLA's Department of Neuroscience finds that the frontal and pre-frontal lobes of the brain, which regulate impulse control and judgment, are not fully developed in adolescents. While adolescents can and should be held accountable for their actions, new scientific information demonstrates that they can not fairly be held accountable to the same extent as adults. Simmons will be reviewed by the justices this fall, four of whom have called the juvenile death penalty 'inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society.' Supreme Court decided to review whether executing sixteen and seventeen year-olds violates the Constitution's ban on 'cruel and unusual punishment.' The review comes after the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of 17 year-old Christopher Simmons. Twenty-two juvenile offenders have been executed and 82 remain on death row. Since 1973, 226 juvenile death sentences have been imposed. Nineteen states have laws permitting the execution of persons who committed crimes at sixteen or seventeen. The United States Supreme Court prohibits execution for crimes committed at the age of fifteen or younger. The law prohibits people under eighteen from voting, serving in the military and on juries, but in some states, they can be executed for crimes they committed before they reach adulthood. That is why the law takes special steps to protect children from the consequences of their actions and often seeks to ameliorate the harm cause when children make wrong choices by giving them a second chance. As a society, we recognize that children, those under 18 years old, can not and do not function as adults.
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