We do not permit children to conduct these activities because we believe that they lack the capacity to fully appreciate the consequences of their actions. It is deeply troubling that we, as a democratic society, truncate the political rights of this group because they need protection, yet pass laws in order to execute them. Another major factor in the Association's call for the halt to executions has been the poor level of legal representation received by many death row inmates. In October of 2000, ABA President Martha Barnett wrote to the Governors of the 38 states with the death penalty, explicitly calling on them to suspend executions in their states until the basic issues of fairness cited in the moratorium policy have been addressed. However, the purposes ostensibly served by capital punishment of adults are not served by the execution of juveniles.
Retribution is also an unsatisfactory justification for the juvenile death penalty.
A child simply cannot be held to the same degree of culpability and accountability for his or her actions to which we hold an adult. Each time a juvenile has faced an execution date, the American Bar Association President has written a letter to the relevant authorities urging them to recognize these issues, and to commute the sentence to life in prison. If the United States is to grow, to progress, let it not be at the cost of our humanity. Let us reassert our nation's leadership in human rights and abolish the juvenile death penalty. On behalf of the American Bar Association, I urge this Committee to examine these issues closely and conclude that whatever possible benefit there may be from having a juvenile death penalty is not worth the cost to our humanity.