He has never owned a gun and never used one prior to this incident. Glen was raised by a mother who was a prostitute and drug addict. His stepfather raped and beat him. Glen's formal education ended with the seventh grade. 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 its actions to which we would hold an adult. Executing this young man, and others who are on death row for their crimes committed as children, serves no principled purpose and only demeans our system of justice. We urge you to use your power and influence to end the practice of imposing the death penalty on persons who have committed crimes while under the age of 18, starting with Glen Charles McGinnis.