Death penalty and life imprisonment for juvenile offenders: the need to combat cruelty with standards of decency
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Abstract
Death penalty and life imprisonment are sanctions prohibited by the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child for crimes committed by minors under 18 years of age. This is based on the idea that there should be a differentiated penal response for minors and adults, which isespecially important when it comes to serious and cruel punishments. This article addresses the situation in the countries that have signed said Convention. It puts special emphasis on the United States, the only country in the world that has not done so, whose Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and whose Supreme Court has declared that differentiated criminal treatment between minors and adults is one of the standards of decency that characterize a civilized society.
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References
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