Submitted by crinadmin on
The death penalty is unlawful for persons under 18 at the time of the offence.1
Twenty states permitted the imposition of capital punishment on juvenile offenders until 2005, when a judicial challenge was heard by the United States Supreme Court.2 Citing the federal prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment,3 the Court declared the juvenile death penalty to be unconstitutional and outlawed the practice.4
Corporal punishment is not available as a sentence for crime. While there is some suggestion that sentences of corporal punishment for criminal offenders might be unconstitutional,5 the Supreme Court has yet to expressly rule on the matter.
Notwithstanding the lack of a formal national prohibition, corporal punishment remains unavailable as a sentence for all offenders in the United States as the federal government and all 50 states have abolished the practice.6
Persons convicted of offences committed when they were under 18 may be sentenced to life imprisonment on a federal level and in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Although the Supreme Court in May 2010 declared sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for non-homicide related offences committed under the age of 18 to be unconstitutional,7 sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of release are lawful for homicide-related offences in some instances in 43 states. In three states - Illinois, Louisiana and Pennsylvania - all juvenile offenders serving sentences of life imprisonment are ineligible for parole. In other states, the sentence is relatively restricted, as is the case in New York (juvenile life without parole possible only where the offence committed is a terrorist act) and Texas (juvenile life without parole possible only where the offender is aged 17). Of those states where juvenile life sentences without parole may be imposed, there are no offenders serving that sentence in 5 states.
For the current legal status of sentences of juvenile life without parole by state, please see Table 1. Prohibition of Life Imprisonment Without Parole by Jurisdiction.
1While some statutes providing for the capital punishment of juveniles still appear in various state criminal codes, these laws have been ruled unconstitutional and are hence unenforceable.
2These states were Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
3United States Constitution, Amendment VIII.
4Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005). For a case summary and a link to the full judgment, see http://www.crin.org/Law/instrument.asp?InstID=1433.
5See Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651 (1977); United States Constitution, Amendment VIII.
6 See JRank, American Law and Legal Information, Crime and Criminal Law, Corporal Punishment – Prevalence, available at http://law.jrank.org/pages/737/Corporal-Punishment-Prevalence.html: “The last two states to use corporal punishment as a judicial penalty were Maryland, where it was seldom inflicted before being abolished in 1952, and Delaware, where the last flogging took place in 1952 although formal abolition did not occur until 1972. Corporal punishment remains available, however, as a penalty for serious breaches of prison discipline in a number of states. Milder forms of corporal punishment for students remain a possible penalty in many states.”
7 Graham v Florida, 560 U.S. __ (2010). For a summary of the case, see http://www.crin.org/Law/instrument.asp?InstID=1464, or to review court documents related to the case, visit http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/graham-v-florida/. For further information on what this case means for children's rights, see Supreme Court limits use of life without parole sentences for children in conflict with the law, Child Rights Information Network, available at http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=22609&flag=news.