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 …show more content…
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,
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 …show more content…
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,