The juvenile death penalty: A frustrated society's attempt for control

The United States is alone among western industrialized nations in allowing a provision for the juvenile death penalty. Specifically, 92% of the juveniles presently sentenced to death were convicted under a felony-murder doctrine which eliminates the state's burden of proving the mens rea requirement for murder. The high rate of felony-murder convictions of juveniles on death row is highly inconsistent with theories of punishment which have traditionally been used to support the death penalty.