Florida Death Penalty, Trying Children As Adults Means Not Believing People Can Redeem Themselves

One of the basic questions we must ask ourselves when considering criminal justice reform is: Do we really believe that people are redeemable? Our response drives our personal philosophies on how justice systems should look. As long as there is debate about humans’ ability to reform, we will not have agreement as a society about what constitutes justice.

death penalty: balding man seated at table.

Death Penalty Questions Getting More Input From Science

When 15-year-old Luis Cruz joined the Latin Kings in 1991, he was a child by almost any measure: He couldn’t legally drive, drop out of school or buy a beer. But was he still a child a few years later when — just months after he turned 18 — he murdered two people on the orders of gang leaders?

Albany Teen Could Face Death Penalty for Murder of Store Clerk

An Albany, Ga. teen charged with murder may be fighting for his life.  Anthony Hill, 16, could be facing the death penalty for his role in a convenience store robbery that left a clerk dead, according to Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards. Surveillance video shows two men wearing ski masks enter the Miscelenea Guate-Mex Store waving guns.  After robbing the store, police say one of the men shot and killed the store clerk, Sentos Vincente.  They are still searching for the second man. Hill appeared before a Magistrate judge yesterday.  A Superior Court judge will decide on bail at a later hearing.