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On December 6, 2006, General Assembly Resolution 61/146 (Promotion and protection of the rights of children) passed 185 - 1 (America voting no), calling on states to:
"abolish by law, as soon as possible, the death penalty and life imprisonment without possibility of release for those under the age of 18 years at the time of the commission of the offence."
Earlier in 1985, the General Assembly (GA) adopted the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules), affirming the main purpose of juvenile justice is ensuring youth well-being, using confinement as a last resort consideration for the shortest period possible.
Then in 1990, the GA passed two resolutions protecting imprisoned youths - the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Their Liberty and the UN Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines). They recognize how prison subjects children to "harsh or degrading correction or punishment," so should be imposed as a last resort no longer than necessary.
Under the Constitution's Article VI, Clause 2, (the Supremacy Clause), agreed to international laws and treaties become "the supreme Law of the land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby...."
In Roper v. Simmons (2005), the Supreme Court ruled capital punishment for minors under age 18 unconstitutional. It also "referred to the laws of other countries and to international authorities" in interpreting the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. For juveniles, it stated:
"It is difficult even for expert psychologists to differentiate between the juvenile offender whose crime reflects unfortunate yet transient immaturity, and the rare juvenile offender whose crime reflects irreparable corruption." If trained professionals can't do it, "we conclude that States should refrain from asking jurors to issue a far graver condemnation - that a juvenile offender merits the death penalty."
Children given LWOP sentences are effectively condemned to die in prison. The near universal condemnation of the practice elevates it to a jus cogens (peremptory or compelling) norm, binding all nations to comply, "including those that have not formally ratified it themselves."
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