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The Supreme Court is considering whether the United States is out of step with the rest of the world, and with national and global standards of decency, by allowing teenage killers to be put to death. Nineteen states allow capital punishment for 16- and 17-year-olds, and more than 70 juvenile murderers are on death row. Justices were hearing arguments Wednesday in a case that will determine whether those executions are unconstitutionally cruel, the latest step in the Supreme Court's reexamination of capital punishment in America. The high court already has barred the death penalty for the mentally retarded and for people under age 16. At issue for the court is whether people under 18 should be treated as adults. Juvenile offenders are executed in just a few other countries, including Iran, Pakistan, China and Saudi Arabia. International leaders contend the practice leaves the United States diplomatically isolated and vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy on human rights issues. The Supreme Court has looked increasingly at international opinion, and its four most liberal members have gone on record against a practice they said was "a relic of the past and is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society." [more

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