In the Roper v. Simmons case, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the use of the death penalty as a punishment for people under 18 at the time the crime was committed. Raised the previously established threshold of 16 years (Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 US 361 1989) by two years.
| Roper v. Simmons | |
|---|---|
 US Supreme Court | |
| Debate took place on October 13, 2004 Closed March 5, 2005 | |
| Full title | Roper v. Simmons |
| A source | 543 US 551 ( more ) |
| Opinions | |
| Most | Kennedy , joined by Stevens , Souther , Ginsburg , Breyer |
| Coinciding with the majority | Stevens joined Ginsburg |
| Special opinion | O'Connor |
| Special | Scalia , joined Renquist , Thomas |
Content
Circumstances
The crime for which Simmons was sentenced to death was the murder of a certain Shirley Crook. He committed by conspiracy together with two friends, both were younger than himself. They, as planned, climbed into the victim’s house, tied her up and threw her off the bridge.
The case went through all instances, each confirmed the verdict. Referring to the precedent set by the Supreme Court decision in the Atkins v. Virginia case (536 US 304), which abolished the death penalty for the demented, the defense petitioned the Missouri Supreme Court, which found it necessary to cancel the death sentence and commuted it to life imprisonment without the right to parole .
Missouri challenged the decision in the Supreme Court. The Missouri Armed Forces case was seen as a petition for a defense order against arbitrary arrest , so Donald P. Roper , the director of the detention center where Simmons was detained, acted as defendant.
See also
- Adulthood