The court recognized these differences in its previous decisions concerning sentences for crimes committed by juveniles.
Indeed, only the United States and perhaps Israel, he said, impose the punishment even for homicides committed by juveniles.
But by the early '80s, the lenient juvenile laws appeared ill equipped to deal with the harsher crimes being committed by juveniles.
For example, this year seven fewer homicides were committed by juveniles in the first 8 months of this year than in 1956.
Such movement is important because adult populations at a given pond often die out naturally, and are replenished by juveniles from elsewhere.
The Supreme Court may leave for another day, for instance, the question of how murders committed by juveniles may be punished.
The latest in a series of school shootings by juveniles brings to the fore the critical importance of incorporating mental health prevention and treatment into our school systems.
Writing for the majority in Graham, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said that only the United States and perhaps Israel imposed the punishment even for homicides committed by juveniles.
Ebrahimi, who shot dead her husband while he was sleeping, faces imminent execution, despite international laws prohibiting execution for crimes committed by juveniles.
Mr. Stevenson said the court should extend its ruling in the Graham case to bar all sentences of life without parole for crimes committed by juveniles.
In time, the county prosecutor and the judge in charge of handling crimes by juveniles recused themselves from the case because they had ties to the football team.
