Can a child receive the death penalty?

Question

Has there ever been a case of the death penalty being given in the USA to a child? Is this currently legal? Has it always been legal, or has this recently changed? What are SCOTUS's views on the matter?

Answer 1

Historically (pre-2005), many people have been executed for crimes they committed while under the age of eighteen, and many have been executed while still under the age of eighteen. Since 2005, the juvenile death penalty is no longer constitutional. See Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005):

The age of 18 is the point where society draws the line for many purposes between childhood and adulthood. It is, we conclude, the age at which the line for death eligibility ought to rest.

Examples

In 1944, George Stinney was convicted, sentenced to death, and executed when he was fourteen years old.

That is just one of many examples.

Wikipedia summarizes that 364 people have been executed for crimes committed as juveniles: 342 before 1972 and 22 between 1976 and 2005.

See also "History of the Juvenile Death Penalty", Washington Post (July 19, 1988). A couple of points about the scope of the practice:

• "1885 James Arcene, a Cherokee Indian, was hanged in Arkansas for participating in a robbery and murder at age 10 -- the youngest offender ever executed in the U.S."
• "The 1940s were the peak decade for juvenile executions, with 53 persons executed for crimes committed before age 18."

Answer 2

Since you're stating "Anyone under 18 of age" then George Stinney - executed at the age of 14 in 1944 is the example that comes to mind.

The added kicker of course being that he was wrongfully convicted!

Prior to Roper v. Simmons, (2005) which made the death penalty for crimes committed under the age of 18 unconstitutional Stanford v Kentucky, (1989) applied which held the minimum age (at time of offence) for the death penalty to apply to be 16 - that said that was the minimum and there was nothing preventing individual states from having it be greater and some did - and at a Federal level.

There's a frankly depressing list of juveniles executed in the US, and I realise the question is primarily targeted at the US but they aren't alone, even in relatively recent history, although many countries have subsequently followed the trend and raised the offence-age to 18