Talk:Sean Sellers

17 vs. 18

Since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Roper v. Simmons, the constant repetition of "a crime committed under the age of 17" makes no sense. It gives undue weight to the fact that Sellers' crime occurred when he wsa 17. The Court in Roper established 18 as the "bright line" at which the death penalty may be constitutionally imposed. In order for the Sellers case to make sense in light of subsequent legal developments, it should be placed in the context of Sellers. Otherwise, the article engages in one-upmanship: "I was executed for a crime at a younger age than you were! Nyah!" In the context of anti-capital punishment advocates, it makes little difference whether Sellers's crime was committed while he was 17, 16, 11 or 5 years old. He was underage and the penalty for the crime was cruel and unusual punishment (it is argued). 18 or 17 doesn't matter in that context, either; the Court's ruling in Roper set the bar at 18. Leonard Schockley's death is no more notable for his having been 16 when he committed his crime, and Scott Hain's no less for his having been 17. - Tim1965 16:58, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

Citation

Citing an online source for such an important statistic as "22 people executed since 1976 whose crime was committed while under the age of 18" is inappropriate. Additionally, the Death Penalty Information Center is hardly a neutral source (much as I agree with their goals). A published source such as a federal report, peer-reviewed journal article, or newspaper article would be better. The Sellers article is already close to being NPOV, because it comes close to reading like a polemic against executions and executing those who committed crimes while under the age of 17 or 18. And the article's emphasis on Sellers' age comes close to violating Wikipedia prohibitions on undue weight. (Strong critics of this article might even suggest that linking to a strong critic of the death penalty, like Death Penalty Information Center, is more like an advertisement. It's akin to an article on conservatism linking to the Republican Party Web site for definitions, or an article on astronomy linking to a group which advocates more funding for astronomy.) I strongly suggest that editors seeking to make changes (especially those outlined here) pick the most neutral, verifiable, published sources possible to back up their claims. - Tim1965 01:11, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

I have changed the date from February 5th 3 times now. This is not correct. Sean was killed at 12:19am on February 4th can someone change this! What is the point in having incorrect information? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.215.89.240 (talk) 00:05, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Sean was 16 , not 17. This was critical because the youngest persons' executed previous to 1959 were 17. Not to mention International law prohibiting it etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.215.89.240 (talk) 00:08, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually that is not true. George Stinney was 14 when he was executed by the state of South Carolina in 1944.--2606:A000:131D:4413:FD13:D53A:E029:B2EE (talk) 12:44, 13 February 2019 (UTC)

Serial Killers

Is he actually a serial killer? Cadeken (talk) 05:56, 30 July 2019 (UTC)