Limiting executions

Washington, D.C.

The Supreme Court this week ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute murderers under age 18, overturning the sentences of 70 young killers on death row. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, for the 5–4 majority, that 18 was the traditional barrier between childhood and adulthood, and was therefore “the age at which the line for death eligibility ought to rest.” The court, in 1988, banned executing killers 15 or younger, but 19 states still permitted the death penalty for people who were 16 or 17 when they committed their crimes. Justice Antonin Scalia, in a dissent, said that by overruling the policies of 19 state governments, the court was appointing itself “sole arbiter of our nation’s moral standards.”

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