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| | Juvenile death penalty bill recommended by Senate panel
Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 By Wesley Brown Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A bill to keep juvenile criminals in Arkansas off death row was recommended by a Senate committee on Monday. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 316 by a 6-1 vote even though a representative for prosecuting attorneys across the state said that the Legislature should wait until the U.S. Supreme Court decides on the issue. Sen. Steve Bryles, D-Blytheville, sponsor of SB 316, said it was time for Arkansas to put into law that it will not execute adolescents. "I could go on and on, but it is a real moral issue for me," Bryles told the panel. "I realize it is a wedge issue, but I don't believe that adolescents should receive the death penalty." Although Bryles could not provide any statistics on how many Arkansas juveniles under the age of 18 have been executed, he argued that the U.S. and Iran are the only civilized countries that allow executions of juveniles. However, Lori Kumpuris, who was representing the Office of the Prosecutor Coordinator, told the panel that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon revisit the constitutionality of executing juveniles between the ages of 16 and 18 later this year. In that case, Roper v. Chris Simmons, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in August 2003 that the execution of those who committed crimes while under the age of 18 violates evolving standards of decency and is, therefore, prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Missouri high court set aside Simmons' death sentence and re-sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of probation or parole. "We should at least wait and see what the Supreme Court has to say about this before we pass legislation," Kumpuris said, adding that she couldn't remember a case where a juvenile in Arkansas has been executed. Bryles' bill says that juveniles in Arkansas who are 16 or 17 years of age at the time their crime would not get the death penalty. Similar bills have been introduced to the Legislature in the past several sessions but have ultimately been defeated in the House. In 2003, House Bill 1632 by Rep. Sam Ledbetter, D-Little Rock, was defeated by a 43-53 vote. The bill needed 51 votes to pass. |
