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MEDIA ADVISORY
from
FLORIDIANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY (FADP)
26 AUGUST 2003
CONTACT: Abe Bonowitz: 800-973-6548
abe@fadp.org
MISSOURI SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS JUVENILE DEATH PENALTY
Decision could lead to a change in Florida law.
Citing "a national consensus [that] has developed against the execution
of juvenile offenders," the Missouri Supreme Court today overturned
the death sentence of a defendant who was 17 when he killed a woman a decade
ago. The decision is counter to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1989 decision
setting the minimum age for death eligibility at 16.
"This is great news," said Abe Bonowitz, director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "Considering the number of states that have abolished the juvenile death penalty, combined with the overwhelming global rejection of killing kids, the stage now appears set for the US Supreme Court to seriously consider reversing its 1989 decision in the upcoming term. That would certainly impact Florida."
With the passage of Amendment One in the 2002 general election, Florida's minimum age reverted from 17 to 16. State Senator Victor Crist, who had promised to push a bill to raise the minimum age in Florida to 18 in the 2003 legislative session, failed to get that bill passed. Approximately 80 juvenile offenders are on death rows in the United States, two of whom are on death row in Florida. (See http://www.fadp.org/Florida_executions.html#juveniles )
Since 2000, only four countries are known to have executed juvenile offenders:
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Pakistan and the United States.
Further narrowing this list, Pakistan recently abolished the death penalty
for juvenile offenders. Twenty-eight states now ban the execution of juvenile
offenders -- 16 states that permit the death penalty and 12 states that
ban all executions.
A growing body of medical evidence that suggests juvenile offenders are
not as culpable as adult offenders and have a better chance of rehabilitation.
"We once believed the human brain was fully developed by age 14,"
said Bonowitz. "We now know that the brain is still developing beyond
the age of 17. The fact is that juveniles have lesser capacity for reflective
judgment and impulse control than adult offenders. Unfortunately, our legal
system has not kept pace with recent discoveries in the area of the behavioral
sciences."
"We do not let juveniles sign contracts, serve in the military, marry,
purchase alcohol or cigarettes or even vote," said Bonowitz. "Yet
we somehow deem them eligible for the death penalty. The double standard
is appalling. Now Missouri has stood up and said no to this double standard.
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is encouraged by this development and will continue to work to see that the "national consensus" against executing children eventually extends to Florida.
Read the Missouri Supreme Court's decision at: http://capitaldefenseweekly.com/StateExRelSimmons.htm
SENT BY:
Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)
800-973-6548
fadp@fadp.org
www.fadp.org
PMB 335, 2603 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy,
Gainesville, FL 32609
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty works for
restorative
justice in the form of effective alternatives to the death penalty.
It
does so by
 supporting and coordinating the work of organizations and
individuals
educating and energizing the general public and state legislators
supporting the many persons affected by capital crime and
punishment
advocating specific legislative improvements
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