Juveniles And The Death Penalty

Throughout the last few decades our children under the age of 18 years old have been sentenced to the death penalty. According to Montaldo (2009), "currently there are 19 states that allow the execution of 16 and 17 years old for the Commission of Capital Crimes and 73 people are currently on death row for crimes they committed when they were that age". In the case of Stanford v. Kentucky, "a 17 year old was convicted by a jury for murder, sodomy, robbery, and the receipt of stolen property, Stanford was sentenced to death". Under the state statue which allows juveniles to receive the death penalty for Class A felonies or capital crimes. (The Oyez Project, Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361 1989). Stanford would have probably been a junior or senior in high school, a child just starting his life, did Stanford have any idea of the severity of his crime and what the consequences would be.
    Are these kids old enough to be held accountable for their crimes? What makes a young child think of these things is it what they watch on television, peer pressure or could it be a type of mental illness?   According to Davis (2004), psychiatrists have pointed out that the front part of the brain called the "frontal lobe" is the part that controls reasoning. Also researchers have found that a small area in the frontal lobe known as the prefrontal cortex controls the most advanced functions of the brain and is the last part to develop. This part of the brain allows humans to plan, anticipate consequences, controls impulses, prioritize thoughts and think in the abstract. The prefrontal cortex continues to develop for individuals into their 20s.
    The controversy over the juvenile death penalty is still ongoing, should juveniles be tried as adults under certain circumstances? Or if they do the crime do they pay the price?   Hanley (2008) stated, "In 1999 two days after the Columbine School shooting the possibility of capital punishment for juvenile murders was supported by...