Death Penalty Advocacy Should Be Consistent

Re “Advocacy Groups Urge High Court to Ban Death Penalty for Juveniles,” July 20: I applaud the efforts of those who advocate for the abolishment of a juvenile death penalty. They oppose capital punishment in general, so to support it for murderous teens would be bizarre. But those who generally favor the death penalty have an equal responsibility to their convictions to remain consistent. To justify different punishments would require demonstrating substantive differences between a juvenile’s and an adult’s level of understanding, yet psychologists teach us that by the age of 5 or 6, children understand that death is a permanent and irreversible state.

Ultimately, if you support the death penalty, you’ve got to support it for violent juveniles. If you can’t stomach it for juveniles, then you’ve got to eradicate it completely. Nothing substantive separates a coldblooded, merciless killer who’s 30 from a coldblooded, merciless killer who’s 16.

John Malburg

Vernon