Amici Curiae Urge the U.S. Supreme Court to Consider International Human Rights Law in Juvenile Death Penalty Case

Abstract:     
This article is an adaptation of an amici curiae brief filed in support of the petition for writ of certiorari in Beazley v. Johnson, 242 F.3d 248 (5th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 945 (2001), application of stay of execution denied, 533 U.S. 969 (2001). It asserts that the prohibition against the execution of persons who were under eighteen years of age at the commission of the crime is not only customary international law, it has attained the status of a jus cogens peremptory norm of international law which must be taken into account by the court. It also argues that the Court should reconsider the execution of juvenile offenders because otherwise the United States will continue to bring itself under increasing international scrutiny, tainting its image as a leader in the protection of human rights.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 20

Keywords: International law, juvenile death penalty, international human rights, Beazley v. Johnson, jus cogens, capital punishment

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