Red Chicago

A Blue supreme Court

Leave it to OpinionJournal to get this right.

"No doubt most Americans will concede that the death penalty for 16- and 17-year-olds is a difficult moral question. That is why different U.S. states have different laws on the matter, and we'd probably oppose such executions if we sat in a legislature. But rather than defer to the will of voters as expressed through state legislatures and at least two ballot initiatives (in Arizona and Florida), Roper imposes the view of five justices that the execution of 16- and 17-year-olds is both wrong and unconstitutional. As Justice Antonin Scalia writes in a dissent that is even more pungent than his usual offerings, 'The court thus proclaims itself sole arbiter of our nation's moral standards.' " - Wall Street Journal

Put me on a jury and it would have to be special circumstances for me to execute a 17 year old. Make me a legislator and I'd vote to ban such pratices, but don't take the option off the table for every single case in the whole United States do to some arbitrary "standards of decency," that mostly stem from international bodies.

posted by Red Chicago @ 9:03 AM