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James Arcene - Wikipedia

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James Arcene
Born	c. 1862 United States
Died	June 18, 1885 (aged 23) Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S.
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Criminal status	Executed

Conviction(s)	Robbery and murder (1872)
Criminal penalty	Death
Escaped	1872–1885

James Arcene (c. 1862 – June 18, 1885) was the youngest person sentenced to death, who was subsequently executed for the crime,^[1] in the United States. Arcene, a Cherokee, was hanged by the U.S. federal government in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for his role in a robbery and murder committed thirteen years earlier, when he was allegedly 10 years old.^[2]

Arcene and a Cherokee man named William Parchmeal noticed William Feigel, a Swedish national, making a purchase in a store. They followed Feigel when he left, heading for Fort Gibson, and caught up with him about two miles outside of the fort. With robbery as a motive, one of the two shot Feigel six times before crushing his skull with a rock. Arcene and Parchmeal then took a pair of boots and some money off of Feigel's corpse.

Arcene was arrested, tried by jury, and convicted for the robbery and murder of Feigel. Arcene then escaped and eluded capture until he was apprehended and executed, at a time when he claimed he was 23 years old.^[1] He and Parchmeal were caught by Deputy Marshal Andrews after the case had been cold for more than ten years. "Hanging Judge" Isaac C. Parker presided over the executions, which were held at Fort Smith.

It is difficult to verify James Arcene's age because there are few surviving census records for Indian Territory in the 1870s and 1880s. Primary documents confirm that, after he was captured, James Arcene claimed to have been a child in 1872 when the crime was committed, and continued to make that claim up through sentencing.^[3] Whether Arcene was truly 10 years old at the time of the crime or only alleging such to avoid capital punishment is unknown.

Arcene's case is frequently brought up in discussions of the death penalty for children, and to a lesser degree in discussions of the perceived unfair treatment Native Americans received from the United States government.^[2]^[4]^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b Streib, Victor L. Death Penalty for Juveniles. Indiana University Press, 1987. p. 72.
^ ^a ^b Scott, Charles L., MD. "Roper v. Simmons: Can Juvenile Offenders be Executed?" Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. 33:4:547-552 (2005).
^ New York Times [www.nytimes.com], "Hanged on the Gallows". The New York Times. June 27, 1885. Accessed June 29, 2011.
^ "Questions on the Death Penalty." Amnesty International USA has alleged that the jury's decision to execute Arcene for a crime committed at such a young age was racially motivated. Archived 2008-11-21 at the Wayback Machine Ask Amnesty. AmnestyUSA.org. November 4, 2003.
^ James, Joy. States of Confinement: Policing, Detention and Prisons. Macmillan, 2000. ISBN 0-312-21777-3. p. 23.

See also

References