Supreme Court Stikes Down Juvenile Death Penalty

I know I will be seen as heartless and cold, but I am not thrilled with the Supreme Court's newest decision to outlaw Juvenile capital punishment.

The US Supreme Court has struck down the juvenile death penalty, embracing a constitutional challenge that the nation's evolving standards of decency have rendered the practice cruel and unusual. In a landmark decision announced Tuesday, the justices ruled 5 to 4 that state laws authorizing capital punishment for 16- and 17-year-olds who commit murder violate the Eighth Amendment and are henceforth unconstitutional. The action reverses the death sentences of 72 convicted murderers who committed their crimes as juveniles...The high court said a national consensus had emerged in opposition to the execution of juveniles.

My problems with this? Based on two things: (1) Federalism and (2) Tradition. First, the use or nonuse of Capital Punishment has clearly been seen as a morality law, which has always been in the purview of the States. This seems like a matter on which reasonable people can disagree. And the concept that "a national consensus has emerged" is just funny when you consider the fact that the case even reached the court is due to the fact that 20 states (just under half) had juvenile death penalties in rare cases. Second, Tradition (religious and civil) does hold that there are some violations that do require the maximum possible penalty. It is rare, but it is reasonable in cases of the worst crimes.

But hey, at least 4 justices agreed with me. Maybe this is another case which would have been different after Bush chooses a Supreme Court justice.