268 10 Corrections and Prison Practices—Juvenile Forensics
Supreme Court case of Gregg v. Georgia held that the death penalty does not violate
the Eighth Amendment to the constitution. Although the essence of this case does
not involve the age of the offender, the concern over an offender's age did emerge.
In this ruling, the Court maintained that the jury must consider characteristics of
the offender that might mitigate against a capital punishment ruling. Among such
characteristics mentioned was the age of the offender. Special consideration of the
constitutionality of the death penalty for juveniles wras addressed in Edditigs v. Okla-
homa (1982). This case involved a 16-year-old defendant who was potentially facing
capital punishment. Regarding the age of the offender, the Court found that a per-
son's youthiulness is worthy of consideration as a mitigating factor. In Edditigs, the
Supreme Court avoided making a determination on the constitutionality issue and
sent the case back for resentencing; however, Justices Burger, Blackmun, Rehnquist.
and White stated that there was no constitutional basis to bar the death penalty for
the 16-year-old defendant. The Supreme Court continues to avoid ruling on the
federal constitutionality of sentencing juveniles to death; rather, the legality of the
death penalty for juveniles remains a determination for individual jurisdictions.
It is interesting to note that these same juveniles who are sentenced to death are
not legally old enough to vote, enter into a contract, marry, or sit on the juries like
those who convict them (Streib, 1987). Perhaps for this reason, the age of minority
for sentencing juveniles to death in many states is 18. However, not all states hold
age 18 as the threshold, and some states do not abide by a minimum age for capital
punishment at all. In 1962, the death penalty existed in 41 states, in which the
minimum age was 7 in 16 states, age 8 in 3 states, age 10 in 3 states, and ages 12—18
in 19 states (Streib, 1987). This has changed considerably over the past 3 decades.
Currently, the minimum age for the death penalty is age 18 in 13 states, age 17 in
4 states, and age 16 in 21 states (Streib, 1996).
From a psychological standpoint, it is important to assess the juveniles' percep-
tions and attitudes toward capital punishment and their death sentence. Streib (1987)
reports that younger juveniles on death row experience greater fear as well as a strong
sense of abandonment. Streib describes such juveniles as exhibiting uncontrollable
crying, severe depression, and "childlike pleas for rescue to a parent or authoritative
adult" (p. 158). The case illustration of Terry Roach, the 17-year-old mentally re-
tarded boy, demonstrates how the public viewed him as evil for his heinous crimes. A
study conducted by Lewis et al. (1988) examined 14 juveniles on death row concern-
ing their psychological characteristics and disorders. The researchers reported that
the typical juvenile offender on death row had serious injuries to the central nervous
system, exhibited psychotic symptoms, and had been physically and sexually abused.
Forensic Psychology and Policy Implications
The appropriateness of imposing the death penalty on juveniles was explored from a
criminological, sociological, and psychological perspective. When combining views