Death Penalty Cases

The controversy surrounding the death penalty is an issue that has no end in sight. For the worst-of-the-worst, the people who have committed the most heinous crimes, some feel as though there is no better suited punishment than the most severe, death. However, the opposing side often brings up arguments the logic in punishing a murderer with murder, and how much justice could actually be achieved, or whether the initial wrong has faced at all justice through capital punishment. When talking about the death penalty, the infamous hardened criminals like Ted Bundy, or John Wayne Gacy come to mind for most people. Many people find the crimes punishable by death to be so atrocious that capital punishment is the only logical option, but what happens
Simmons Supreme Court decision held that sentencing offenders under the age of 18 to death is unconstitutional. This Supreme Court case was decided on a 5-4 decision, this split verdict did not aid in ending the controversy. The Supreme Court of Missouri came to the conclusion that due to a nationwide disapproval against the capital punishment of minors, Christopher Simmons should not be executed. (Barry 23). The deciding argument was that it violated the 8th Amendment protection against “cruel and unusual punishment”. The issue of juvenile offender’s eligibility for the death penalty was one that had been addressed before. Cases like Thompson v. Oklahoma outlawed the death penalty for offenders under 16 years old, Stanford v. Kentucky allowed for the possibility of a crime committed by a 16-year-old to be punished by execution. One glaring issue with barring the execution of juvenile offenders is the fact that the most heinous crimes will simply be waived to the adult court jurisdiction, where they may receive the death penalty regardless while being treated as an adult by the courts. Another case that changed how we sentence the “worst-of-the-worst” juvenile offenders was Graham v. Florida where sentencing anyone to life in prison without parole under the age of 18 was banned. This court decision applied specifically to non-homicide offenses (Barry 14) but was followed by Miller v. Alabama which challenged the constitutionality of mandatory life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders including murder cases. The result of this cases forces judges to consider the young age, nature of the crime, mental capacity, and various other factors before handing down a life without parole sentence to a minor (ACLU