ARKANSAS: Judge likens juveniles to mentally incompetent

Juveniles are similar to mentally incompetent adults, a circuit judge says, and a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court has barred execution of those deemed mentally incompetent.

 Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wiley Branton Jr. made the comparison Wednesday as a participant in a panel discussing application of the death penalty to youngsters. He cited a ruling in June by the high court banning the execution of mentally retarded people, and said that ban should also apply to juveniles.

 "To me, there's not a whole lot of difference between a mentally incompetent adult and a child," Branton said.

 Branton's resemble those of death penalty opponents around the country who claim arguments against executing the retarded and young people are based on the same premise - that those with underdeveloped mental capacities should not be condemned.

 The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sponsored the forum at the Darragh Center for Intellectual Freedom at the Little Rock Public Library.

 Arkansas has had a ban on executing mentally retarded people since 1993. However, current law allows for a juvenile offender as young as 16 to be sentenced to death.

 Arkansas has never put a juvenile offender to death, and there are currently no juveniles on death row in the state.

 "In general, I am opposed to the death penalty," Branton said. "But as an elected official ... I've got to follow the law."

 Dr. Chris Lamps, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said adolescents' brains do not have the capacity to contemplate consequences as do most adults.

 "Children's' behavior is dominated by emotions," Lamps said. "They think with their emotions. And risk really isn't a big part of making emotional decisions."

 Lamps said society recognizes the limitations of children in most areas, except when it comes to criminal behavior.

 Voting, marriage, military service, consuming alcohol and driving all have age restrictions, Lamps said.

 He said that is because children change as they grow, becoming more mature and responsible for their actions.

 "I think the death penalty is excessive when applied to minor individuals," Lamps said.

 Rick Halperin, chair of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said there are nearly 3,000 people on death row in the United States, of whom 77 were juveniles when they were sentenced to death.

 He said 22 of 38 states with the death penalty allow the execution of juveniles. 5 states limit the death penalty to those 17 and older and the rest, including Arkansas, allow for criminal defendants as young as 16 to be sentenced to death, Halperin said.

 "It is a process of physical and psychological torture for those condemned," Halperin said. "But you all will live to see the end of this nightmare in this country."

 Sen. Mike Everett, D-Marked Tree, sponsored legislation in 2001 to prohibit the state from executing kids who kill before their 18th birthday. That proposal died in a House committee.

 Everett and his supporters argued at the time that even 17 was too young because children that age have not developed the capacity to fully appreciate the consequences of their actions.

 Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley said he prefers to let juries determine the sentence, regardless of a defendant's age.

 "I trust 12 members of the community ... absolutely to do the right thing," Jegley said.

 "They (juveniles) are going to be judged by the same standards at trial that an adult would and if because of their youth, they are incapable of conforming their conduct to the requirements of law, I'm sure a jury would see that and decide accordingly," Jegley added.