all-encompassingly

From all-encompassingly reader Marshall:

This week the Supreme court voted 5-4 in favor of a ban on capital punishment for offenders under 18. The ruling drew cheers from Amnesty International, who stated that, “Today’s ruling we see as one of the final milestones in the road to global abolition of the death penalty for crimes committed by children” (Reuters). Amnesty International’s standard for “children” is apparently 17 and under.

The greatest cause for concern in the ruling comes from the list of justifications that Justice Anthony Kennedy presented in favor of the ban:

1. International Opinion

“The European Union, human right lawyers from the United Kingdom and a group of Nobel Peace laureates had urged the court in friend-of-the-court briefs to strike down the juvenile death penalty.

In saying that this strong expression of international sentiment ‘provide[s] respected and significant confirmation for our own conclusions,’ Kennedy lengthened the recent string of decisions in which the court has incorporated foreign views — and decisively rejected the arguments of those on the court, led by Scalia, who say it should consider U.S. law exclusively” (Washington Post).

2. The American Psychological Assosiation

The American Psychological Association is a liberal politicians’ lap dog. On one hand, they assert that

“First, psychologists can continue to bring forth existing and new data on the limits of adolescent reasoning, judgment and decision-making” in reference to the death penalty.
[source]

On the other hand they are are quick to defend the right of teenage girls to receive abortions without the consent or knowledge of their parents, claiming that:

“Psychological theory and research on cognitive, social, and moral development support the finding that adolescents, as a group, are able to understand, reason, and make decisions about important life situations. When comparing adolescents to adults, research has found that adolescents who considered abortion were generally as competent as legal adults in their decision-making; however, adolescents under age 15 who did not consider abortion were generally found to be less competent in their decision-making than adults (Ambuel & Rappaport,1992).”
[source]

So which is it??? Do adolescents have “limits of reasoning, judgement, and and decision-making” or are they “as a group, able to understand, reason, and make decisions about important life situation”? Please, somebody help me understand!

3. “National Consensus”

20 states permitted the execution of minors up until yesterday, including major population centers such as Texas. The other 18 death penalty states already had restrictions against capital punishment in juvenile cases. If my math is correct, that’s less than 50 percent. Hmmm, if this were baseball that would be a pretty awesome percentage.

At this point, all of the reasoning for the decision seems point to the fact that our justices suffer from envy of the Legislative branch. I mean, does this country really need a separation of powers in the state anymore? Come on.