Good News/Bad News
The Supreme Court overturned existing law allowing the execution of minors. Here's my dilemma. I am against capital punishment, but I think the courts got this wrong. Citing the Eighth Amendment "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fine imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted" the court, in a 5-4 vote, determined that capital punishment of minors was "cruel and unusual punishment." "Cruel and Unusual" are two pretty vague words, but I'm not sure they apply. What was not cruel in the 1700's may be considered very cruel today, and what was unusual in the 1700's may be usual today. The wording is another example of 'breathing room" the framers built into the document. Is capital punishment of minors cruel? Balanced against a lifetime in a maximum security prison, the argument may get circular real fast, and I'll leave that to others. Is it unusual? This is the interesting side. We live in a country where murder is illegal, euthanasia is illegal, suicide is illegal, and most think abortion is murder. Therefore, is it "unusual" to kill someone? I say yes. But is that enough? For the “evolving standard of society” to apply, what constitutes unusual? If 50% of the citizens think it’s unusual, is it so? What about 75%, 95%? This is where I think the Court overreached. The Court cited no direct statistic in its ruling, only a compilation of numbers, plus international standards. (Quick aside for Malone, were we like Iran because executed minors, and if so, should those that opposed Iran, also opposed the US? What about those of us in the US that don’t support Iran. Should we also not support the US? I’m very confused, and I want to be a good patriot.) You can base law on 51%, but societal values? I don’t think so, and this is why I disagree with cause of a ruling whose effect I support. The Court also focused on culpability. Does a minor know what they’re doing, and are they responsible. Reading the case, this guy did. But the larger question is how different is a 17 year old from an 18 year old? But that topic is to brainy for me.
Personally, I think this Amendment addresses torture, public humiliation and the like. Also, do I think Bush's vision of a society that "embraces life" should also abhor the death penalty, absolutely? I just think that this should have come from national referendum, not the Supreme Court.
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3 comments:
I'm not sure what to conclude from this but...I agree (except for the parenthetical reference which I don't understand). The reasoning for the ruling is complete nonsense. I have no problem with someone thinking that we shouldn't execute a 30 year old because he killed someone when he was 17 (I'm not sure I'd agree, but I understand). But what does the Constitution say about this? Nothing. As I've argued before, this is one example of many where the American people should decide, not 5 judges.
Cruel and unusual implies the banning of sadistic execution techniques. Iron Maiden should rock us, not kill us. What this shows is the jurisprudence of justifying convictions. The 5 justices wanted a certain result and so they sought a justification for it. I'm open to a discussion of how a justice should approach a problem, but I've already tipped my hand. I think they should reason from the Constitution to thier conclusion, not from thier conclusion to the Constitution. This is an example of the latter.
Well it couldn't last. Reading the decision, even Scalia says the eighth does address capital punishment, rather he, and I, believe that the methodology to determine evolving national standards was wrong.
I also have to say this is the first time I've read an actual decision. Most of the press had it wrong, and only pulled out the juicy parts, largely out of context. Not that this is surprising.
I'm not sure about the legal reasoning but science continues to show that the brains of minors are not fully developed therefore limiting culpability, the same rational can be used for denying the vite to those under 18. What is going to be interesting here is the implications for abortion among minors. This ruling should be a boost for those (like myself) who support parental notifcation laws.
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