5.5-4 Juvenile Shootings

5-4 SUPREME COURT ABOLISHES JUVENILE EXECUTIONS
Brianna Talley
The University of Alabama
CJ 306-001
The Abstract
In a 5 to 4 ruling, the Supreme Court decided to abolish capital punishment for juveniles. After doing an experiment they concluded that it was cruel and unusual punishment to give a minor the death penalty because they are too immature. 20 states permitted the death penalty for minors. They canceled the death sentence for Christopher Simmons and 72 other people for crimes they committed under the age of 18. Texas, who has 29 juveniles awaiting execution, and Alabama who has 14 waiting, will feel the impact of this change the most. The Supreme Court weighs death penalty laws based on a 1958 ruling called the “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society;” Also they look at the state legislation and the jury verdicts to decide
whether a “national consensus” has developed against the previous practices. The most significant impact on the Supreme Court is to reaffirm the role of international law in constitutional interpretation.

Introduction On March 1, 2005, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that it is unconstitutional to sentence someone below the age of 18 years old to the death. They felt that teenagers that age were too immature to make rational decisions. So it would be unfair and cruel punishment if you sentence them to death. Because of this ruling 20 states including Virginia, permitted the death penalty for offenders younger than 18. 73 people were impacted by this ruling including Christopher Simmons. (Lane, 2005) Christopher Simmons was 17 when he killed a woman, and 18 years old when he was sentenced to death.
In Roper vs. Simmons (2005) the verdict was to determine the minimum age for capital punishment, cruel and unusual punishment, and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment. They wanted to decide was it permissible under the Eighth and Fourteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United States to execute a juvenile offender who was older than 15 but younger than 18 when they committed a capital crime. The Supreme Court stated the gravity of capital punishment and its application “Capital punishment must be limited to those offenders who commit a narrow a category of the most serious crimes’ and whose extreme culpability makes them the most deserving of execution.” The Court further stated that juveniles are different because they are “more vulnerable or susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures, including peer pressure”; and that “that the character of a juvenile is not as well formed as that of an adult.” (CaseBriefs, 2005) Justice Kennedy, who was writing for the majority,
stated:
“When a juvenile offender commits a heinous crime, the State can exact forfeiture of some of the most basic liberties, but the State cannot extinguish his life and his potential to attain a mature understanding of his own humanity.” (Roper v. Simmons, 2005)
The ruling was determined after 59 people were executed in 2004. (Lane, 2005) stated “Thus, the ruling showed that society’s reconsideration of capital punishment has penetrated the court…” Which is true this decision has made such a huge impact on people’s lives.

Works Cited
CaseBriefs. (2005). Retrieved February 29, 2015, from www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/criminal-procedure/criminal-procedure-keyed-to-weinreb/sentence/roper-v-simmons-2/
Lane, C. (2005, March 2). 5-4 Supreme Court Abolishes Juvenile Executions. The Washington Post .
Roper v. Simmons, 03-633 (The Supreme Court March 1, 2005).