The Honorable Ronnie Musgrove
Governor, State of Mississippi
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, MS 39205

Dear Governor Musgrove:

I write on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi and the American Civil Liberties Union Capital Punishment Project to urge you to commute the death sentence of Ron Chris Foster. His execution is scheduled for January 8, 2003. Ron Foster was 17 years old when he was arrested for the murder of George Shelton. In addition to his youth, there are strong mitigating factors in his case, including the fact that he has no prior history of criminal behavior. It is my strong view that the death penalty is not appropriate in this case.

There is a growing national consensus against executing juveniles reflecting a worldwide abhorrence of the practice. Among the 40 jurisdictions, in the United States that authorize the death penalty, 18-- nearly half ban juvenile executions. A majority of the remaining death penalty states are engaged in efforts to ban such executions as well. This action in state legislatures underscores public opinion that has turned against the practice. 

The consensus against executing juveniles is based on an increasingly well-documented understanding that juveniles do not possess the degree of culpability that justifies a death sentence.  Recently in Atkins v. Virginia the Supreme Court observed, that mental capacity bears directly on the degree of culpability justifying a death sentence. The Court found in Atkins, that the reduced mental capacity of people with mental retardation affected their ability to control impulses and to make sound decisions. 

Similarly, recent scientific findings support the conclusion that juveniles also have a reduced capacity for judgment and impulse control. Researchers have found that the prefrontal cortex and other portions of the brain that control cognitive behavior continue to develop and mature into the early twenties. This area of the brain controls decision-making, impulse control, and the ability to understand and project consequences and to adjust behavior. The appropriateness and constitutionality of the death penalty, among other things, depends on it being reserved for the worst of the worst. There is mounting evidence that juveniles, as was true of people with mental retardation, do not fit into the category of offenders for which the most severe punishment is reserved. 

Moreover, four Supreme Court Justices have already expressed the view that evolving standards of decency should ban juvenile executions. In the near future, the Court is likely to rule that the Constitution outlaws the practice. It would be a tragedy, to have this execution go forward only to learn soon after that the punishment imposed has been forbidden.

Finally, we are very troubled by the racial disparities in the application of the death penalty for juveniles. In light of the growing consensus against executing juvenile offenders, there is a special horror at the prospect that the decision to punish certain juvenile offenders could be influenced by race. It is our understanding that half of the six juveniles on death row in Mississippi are, like Ron Foster, African American. Juvenile offenders of color are disproportionately represented on death row in Mississippi. 

In light of the growing consensus against the death penalty for juveniles, the risk that racial bias influenced the death sentence and significant mitigating factors in this case I urge you to grant clemency to Ron Foster and commute his death sentence to life.

Very truly yours,

Diann Y. Rust-Tierney
Director, ACLU Capital Punishment Project