xecution of a minor in America was in 1642, when Thomas Graunger was put to death in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts. Before that time teens never acted up only because parents would beat the smarts out of you if you got out of line. But in today's society if you commit a crime your put on trial, prosecuted and convicted by a jury of your peers. Teen assaults are increasing across the United States proving how tense teens are today. "Since World War II, there has been a sevenfold increase in serious assault by juveniles in the United States." (Facts About Violence and America's Youth). It should not make any difference how old the person that commits a crime is, they should all be tried as one. If someone decided they wanted to pick up a weapon and use it to deadly capabilities, then they are responsible for their own actions and should be able to cope with their decision. If two men separately threw a brick through a store window and took something out of the store, who is to say that those two criminals should be tried differently?; Just because one might have been 13 and the other 25? That has no say in the damage done to that storefront.
             Another hotly debated topic, should the government use the death penalty as a punishment for underage murderers? The opinion of the families of the victims' families is an overwhelming "yes." Everyone is accountable for their own actions and should receive fair and even punishment across the board regardless of age or mental capacity, which is a whole other argument in itself. The criminal, the "killer", whether doctors think so or not decided in his or her own brain to commit a murder and followed through on that plan. No doctor or physician who studied at Harvard can tell someone what another person was thinking when they committed an action. They can logically guess, but nothing more, and it is absurd to think otherwise. In fact, "less than 10% of all juvenile killers are psychotic, that is, hav...