No appeal for 12 year old murderer
WASHINGTON (AP) - April 14, 2008 Lawyers for Christopher Pittman wanted the justices to examine
whether the long prison term for a child violates the
Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. With no
possibility of parole, he will be 42 before he is released, they
said.
Pittman is the only inmate serving such a lengthy sentence for a
crime committed at such a young age, his lawyers said. The judge
who sentenced him was prohibited by law from taking his age into
account.
South Carolina contended the punishment is proportionate to the
crime and said there is a national trend of increased punishment
for young violent criminals.
Pittman used a shotgun to shoot Joe and Joy Pittman in their bed
and then set fire to their home in 2001. During his trial four
years later, Pittman's attorneys unsuccessfully argued the slayings
were influenced by the antidepressant Zoloft - a charge the maker
of the drug vigorously denied.
The Supreme Court appeal dealt only with the length of Pittman's
sentence.
"The unwillingness of U.S. jurisdictions to punish 12-year-olds
so harshly ... reflects a societal consensus that lengthy
imprisonment without possibility of parole constitutes excessive
punishment as applied to 12-year-old children," Pittman's lawyers
wrote in asking the Supreme Court to take the case.
The South Carolina Supreme Court said Pittman's age belied the
complexity of his crime. He planned a double murder, executed an
escape plan and concocted a false story of what happened, the state
high court said in upholding the punishment.
The state also pointed to recent examples of children as young
as 13 receiving sentences of up to life in prison.
"Simply because the combination of factors justifying adult
punishment for those so young ... does not happen often, does not
mean that when it does the Eighth Amendment forbids a sentence that
appropriately addresses society's need for retribution,
incapacitation and deterrence," said state Attorney General Henry
McMaster.
Each year about 200,000 defendants under 18 are treated as
adults, according to the National Center for Juvenile Justice. Many
states automatically define young defendants as adults, due to
their age or offense. Those numbers escalated in the 1990s as
juvenile crime soared and legislators responded, with 48 states
making it easier to transfer children into criminal court,
according to the center.
Pittman's case drew wide attention, in part because of the link
his lawyers tried to make between the crime and Zoloft. It is the
most widely prescribed antidepressant in the United States, with
32.7 million prescriptions written in 2003. In 2004, the Food and
Drug Administration ordered Zoloft and other antidepressants to
carry "black box" warnings - the government's strongest warning
short of a ban - about an increased risk of suicidal behavior in
children.
The case is Pittman v. South Carolina, 07-8436.