Juvenile Death Penalty Ronald Chris Foster

National Center For Youth Law

December 12, 2002

The Honorable Ronnie Musgrove
Governor, State of Mississippi
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, MS 39205-0139
Fax: 601/359-3741

Dear Governor Musgrove,

I am writing to urge you to commute the death sentence of Ronald Chris Foster, who was 17 at the time of the offense. The National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) is a non-profit legal services organization that works on the behalf of low-income children nationwide. Over our 30-year history, NCYL has gained valuable expertise in juvenile justice issues.

In appealing for clemency, we are not in any way excusing the crime or minimizing the pain suffered by the family and friends of George Shelton. However, we ask that in the light of the particular circumstances of this case, you show mercy by commuting Ronald's death sentence to life in prison.

Ronald's trial was plagued by a variety of problems. Ronald's trial counsel was unaware of the state law allowing a request to the circuit court to conduct a special hearing for a juvenile to consider factors that would favor sending the 17-year-old to youth court. Therefore, Ronald was denied this individualized consideration. There was also a significant amount of mitigating evidence that should have been raised by counsel in the sentencing phase of the trial, including his youth, his two traumatic head injuries, his disturbing home life, and his lack of criminal history.

The execution of juvenile offenders runs counter to basic American standards of decency and fairness, which punish according to the degree of culpability and reserve the death penalty for the "worst of the worst" offenders. By their very nature, adolescents, who are at a transitional period in life, experiencing rapid changes in cognitive ability, emotion, judgment, and impulse control, are less mature and, therefore, less culpable than adults. For these reasons, we do not permit juveniles to enjoy many of the responsibilities of adulthood, such as voting and serving in the military.

Aside from the United States, Iran is the only other country that publicly supports the execution of juvenile offenders. This action is expressly prohibited by international law as stated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, among others. The American public does not support such executions, as evidenced by a recent Gallup poll finding that 69% of Americans oppose the execution of juvenile offenders. Furthermore, 43 states have chosen not to carry out such a sentence.

For these reasons, we urge you to commute Ronald Foster's sentence to life in prison. We believe that justice can be served, the public protected, and the basic precepts of American fairness and democracy preserved without the State taking his life.

Sincerely,

John F. O'Toole
Director

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