Volume III. No. 32
 03-02-05
 A Great Civilized Step Forward
 { Ending The Death Penalty For 
   Juveniles In The U.S.A }
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2005
 

 Yesterday was a great day for news junkies. Unfortunately this was on the
 basis of some good news and some ugly news.  There were continued democracy 
 demonstrations in Beirut, Lebanon. --- That's certainly, good news.

 The second day of testimony in the Michael Jackson case was interesting.
 We're neutral on that. Kobe Bryant is apparently going to settle his civil case. 
 Again, as with Michael, we don't know if he's guilty or not. 

 Now we will never know. Except that this looks an awful lot like a shakedown.
 Funny how the greenbacks can ease any pain.

 "If they say it's not about the money... It's about the money."

 The judge in Saddam Hussein's trail over in Iraq was assassinated. --- That 
 was definitely bad news. Anybody who says Iraq is not the very definition
 of a quagmire is just plain nuts.

 The husband and the elderly mother of prominent U.S. District Judge Joan 
 Lefkow were found murdered in the basement of the judge's Chicago residence. 
 Each victim had been shot once in the head with a small caliper weapon. All 
 eyes are upon white supremacist looney Matthew Hale and his organization 
 as the prime suspects in this crime.

 This Hale character is already in prison on an obstruction of justice charge,
 and for previously soliciting Judge Lefkow's murder. 

 Definitely have to put this horrible incident in the bad news category.

 Now for something grand.

 The United States Supreme Court by a narrow vote of 5/4 outlawed the 
 death penalty for those persons under the age of 18. The only question is 
 why was it legal to execute juveniles in the first place? At last the United 
 States is in accord with the rest of the civilized world where the view has 
 long been that not only is the death penalty barbaric, but the murder of 
 juveniles by the state is simply unconscionable.

 The usual suspects on the Supreme Court were in dissent. Justices Rehnquist, 
 O'Connor, Scalia, and Thomas remain in their time warp and bristle at the idea 
 that jurisprudence in United States should be influenced in the least by the 
 norms that exist outside of America, in the international community of nations.

 Wonder what the citizens of Iraq think about that one, as they dodge their
 daily phalanx of car bombs, kidnappings, sniper shootings, and the occasional 
 sidewalk beheading.

 Dealth penalty for juveniles advocate Antonin Scalia wrote in his dissent.
 "...The court thus proclaims itself the sole arbiter of our nation's moral 
 standards --- and in the course of discharging that awesome responsibility 
 purports to take guidance from the views of foreign courts and legislatures..."

 This was obviously a counter argument to statements in the majority decision 
 which read in part, "...the United States is the only country in the world 
 that continues to give official sanction to the juvenile death penalty."

 To be absolutely fair, there is no right or wrong on the issue of the death 
 penalty. The defining line on this issue is what we as human beings decide
 to do. The Bible says the death penalty is just, and men of decency can 
 certainly disagree on that point. But, as we suffer through the last term of 
 a U.S. president who thinks it is his God-given duty to bring freedom and 
 democracy to every citizen of the world who would claim it. Perhaps it is our
 turn to listen to outside voices.

 The world community thinks that it is barbaric to execute people. This
 certainly includes a prohibition against the state-sanctioned execution of
 people who committed vicious crimes when they were underage juveniles.

 How then can we ignore the fact that most of Western Europe doesn't 
 suffer the level of violence in their cities, as is taken for granted in the 
 United States? And these nations don't execute criminals no matter 
 how hideous the offenses they have committed.

 Perhaps these nations have come to the considered opinion that violence 
 as an answer to violence is reactive, uncivilized, vengeful, and in the end,
 accomplishes nothing.

 Hmmm...

 Maybe they are on to something?
 

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