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36 Okla. L. Rev. 613 (1983)
Death Penalty for Children: The American Experience with Capital Punishment for Crimes Committed While under Age Eighteen

handle is hein.journals/oklrv36 and id is 615 raw text is: DEATH PENALTY FOR CHILDREN: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE WITH CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR CRIMES COMMITTED WHILE UNDER AGE EIGHTEEN VICTOR L. STREIB* Within the seamless web of the law and the empirical reality of capital punishment, what role does the youth of the offender play? If it is assumed that children have a very special place in life which law should reflect,' does it necessarily follow that civilized societies will not tolerate the spectacle of execution of children?' Fueled by eight recent executions3 and by the presence of more than twelve hundred persons on death row awaiting execution, the debate about capital punishment continues with renewed vigor. The debate embraces such issues as the historical evolution of capital punishment, the legal process involved, the characteristics of the executed offenders, the nature of their offenses, and the criminological purposes served by a punishment.., unique in its severity and irrevocability.5 This article examines these issues as applied to very young offenders lawfully executed in the United States for crimes they committed while under age eighteen. In the early 1980s, capital punishment of children is reemerging as an issue of great national importance,6 sufficient even to capture the © 1983 Victor L. Streib *Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University Visiting Professor of Law, 1983-84, San Diego. The author wishes to acknowledge and express appreciation for the funding support of the Cleveland-Marshall Fund, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University.-Ed. 1. In re Anderson, 345 U.S. 528, 536 (1953) (Frankfurter, J., concurring). 2. MODEL PENAL CODE § 210.6 commentary at 133 (Official Draft and Revised Comments 1980). 3. Gary Gilmore, Utah, Jan. 17, 1977; John Spenkelink, Florida, May 25, 1979; Jesse Bishop, Nevada, Oct. 22, 1979; Steven Judy, Indiana, Mar. 9, 1981; Frank Coppola, Virginia, Aug. 10, 1982; Charles Brooks, Jr., Texas, Dec. 7, 1982; John Louis Evans III, Alabama, Apr. 22, 1983; and Jimmy Lee Gray, Mississippi, Sept. 2, 1983. 4. As of Aug. 20, 1983, 1,230 persons were on death row awaiting execution. NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND, INC., DEATH Row, U.S.A. 1 (Aug. 20, 1983). 5. Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 187 (1976) (plurality opinion). 6. For the purpose of this article, the term children means all persons under the age of eighteen. Capital punishment of children refers to sentencing to death or executing a person for a crime committed by that person at an age of less than eighteen years. It is beyond the scope of this article to explore the various ages at which persons are considered children or adults for purposes of voting, driving, contracting, working, etc. For particularly insightful analysis of some of these issues, see F. ZIMRINO, THm CHANGING LEGAL WORLD OF ADOLESCENCE (1982);

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