The US Supreme Court has abolished the death penalty for those who commit murder when under the age of 18.This is proof of an alien invasion; how else to explain this outbreak of rationality? The court was, of course, divided. At least they weren't debating the wisdom of executing 12 year olds, the question was for teens aged 16-18.
It's a slippery slope though. As O'Connor writes when arguing for execution:
One of the court's dissenting judges, Sandra Day O'Connor, argued that: 'Chronological age is not an unfailing measure of psychological development, and common experience suggests that many 17-year-olds are more mature than the average young 'adult'.Indeed. I would not be surprised to learn that most murderers have the psychological maturity of an average 2 year old. Such speculations though lead us down into the depths of relativism, where humans go at peril of their most deeply held beliefs.
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