Too Young to Die?

Minors in the United States are too young to drink, gamble, and buy cigarettes. However, in many states they are eligible to die under execution for the crimes they commit.

On September 9, 1993, on the outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri, Christopher Simmons, 17, and Charles Benjamin, 15, broke into the home of Shirley Ann Crook a 46 year- old woman and murdered her. They tied her up, covered her eyes and mouth with duct tape and pushed her off of a bridge and into a river where she died. Simmons was given the death penalty and Benjamin was sentenced to life in prison. The case was reconsidered in 2003; Simmons was reassigned to life in prison without parole. Simmons' case is currently being brought before the Supreme Court.

Simmons' case is being argued from a neurological standpoint. The American Health Society has taken an interest in this case hoping to prove that adolescents do not have the "brain power" to make adult decisions, and thus, should not be held responsible for their actions.

PSU Senior, Erin Hammond, feels strongly about the debate over execution being fair, "I do not believe in execution of minors or the execution of legal adults. Execution, I believe is not a fair form of punishment in our society. We try and educate children and young adults that killing someone is wrong, yet we turn around and use killing to punish those who have done wrong... Minors are still impressionable, and can change their actions if a severe punishment is put upon them."

In a New York Times article, published on October 17, 2004 Paul Raeburn wrote, "The briefs in the Simmons case are based on research that shows that the human brain, once thought to be fully wired by about age 12, continues to grow and mature into the early or mid-20's. And the last part to mature is the frontal lobes, or prefrontal cortex, responsible for all the hallmarks of adult behavior -- impulse control, the regulation of emotions and moral reasoning."

The article continues to suggest that teenagers are not capable of acting like adults in stressful situations. The article continues with "Their brains can't handle it." Beatriz Luna, a neuroscientist at the University of Pittsburgh, has compared the brains of adults and teenagers doing a task in which they must resist the instinctive tendency to gaze at a dot of light on a computer screen. As in Baird's experiments, adults recruit various parts of the brain to help. But teenagers don't seem to do that. ''It takes them an extreme effort,'' says Luna. ''When everything is perfect, they can act like adults. But you add a little bit of stress, and that can break down.''

Taking neurological functioning into consideration doesn't state that minors should not be held responsible for committing crimes; it only suggests that they shouldn't receive the same punishments as adults because they cannot consistently act on the same level as adults.

Sophomore, Jamie Nugent, adds, "First of all I don't believe in the death penalty, second of all, it is far worse to be in jail than to be executed. Executing minors is insane because they are just babies. I know they commit horrible crimes, but I feel that because they are younger they are easier to help."

Two years ago the Supreme Court ruled against executing the mentally retarded because their disabilities effect their good judgment. Since 1989, seven states have banned executions that also takes care of executing minors, however 19 states still perform executions on convicted criminals. The amount of minors actually executed is slim; Texas, Virginia and Oklahoma are the only states that have executed minors in the past 10 years. There is argument that the Supreme Court should not rule against the execution of minors until the nation as a whole reaches a consensus.