Blog Post #4: Juveniles and the Death Penalty

Should juveniles be executed?

Today there are no juveniles under sentence of death as a result of the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roper v. Simmons. In 2004, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Roper v. Simmons (2005) after the Supreme Court of Missouri ruled that the death penalty for juveniles violates the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment [1]. Roper v. Simmons (2005) required the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the lower court could reject the previously held standard set by the Supreme Court and whether the death penalty for a 17-year-old offender violated the Eighth Amendment [2]. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that executing juveniles is unconstitutional and as a result, death sentences for juveniles are now invalid. The close decision in this case is indicative of the lack of consensus on this issue.

Even before the Roper v. Simmons decision, opposition to the execution of juveniles seemed to be increasing. Many organizations including the American Bar Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the Child Welfare League of America, and the Children’s Defense Fund were opposed to the death penalty for juveniles [3]. Sixty-nine percent of Americans responding to a Gallup Poll survey opposed the execution of juveniles [4] and several Supreme Court justices were opposed to the death penalty as well [5].

Prior to the Roper v. Simmons (2005) decision, the U.S. Supreme Court had decided several juvenile death penalty cases, including Thompson v. Oklahoma (1988), Stanford v. Kentucky (1989), Wilkins v. Missouri (1989), and Atkins v. Virginia (2002). In the cases of Stanford and Wilkins, the Court ruled that the death penalty for juveniles who were at least 16 years old at the time of their offense did not violate the Eighth Amendment. At that time, the Court left it up to the states to decide whether they would execute juveniles at age 16 or 17 because there was no national consensus on the issue [6].

In previous rulings, Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer cited new scientific data pointing to biophysical explanations for adolescents’ diminished cognitive capabilities. They wrote in an amicus supporting Simmons, “Older adolescents are not simply miniature adults, with less experience or wisdom. They are also not as equipped as adults to engage in moral reasoning and adjust their conduct accordingly” [7]. According to the American Medical Association and American Psychiatric Association, 16- and 17-year-olds are physically incapable of making judgments as well as adults and therefore not as culpable [7]. Some, however, disagree with this assessment and argue that as a matter of justice, some juveniles should be executed.

According to Robert Blecker, a professor of criminal law at New York Law School, the very fact that some juveniles commit atrocious crimes merits the option of capital punishment. He states, “There are some people who kill so cruelly and callously and with such wanton depravity that they deserve to die, and we have an obligation to execute them,” but that juvenile executions should be done “only for the worst of the worst” [7]. For other supporters of the juvenile death penalty, it’s not a matter of forgiveness but a matter of deterrence.

Dianne Clements, founder of the Texas-based criminal justice reform organization Justice for All, believes, “You can absolutely forgive the offender and have no issue with that person being executed.” In 1991, her 13-year-old son was shot and killed by another juvenile. She says, “Executed killers do not harm again…If you execute somebody, they’re deterred” [7].

With the Supreme Court’s decision in Roper v. Simmons, this contested issue was legally settled, but as demonstrated, each side of the argument has its own merits. Socially, however, this argument will probably continue to exist over time, especially when atrocious murders are committed by juveniles and portrayed in the news media. Nonetheless, when the United States is the last Western societal nation to ban the death penalty [7], this in itself should be enough to show that this ruling was long overdue.

Sources:

[1] Simmons v. Roper, S.C. 84454 (2003).

[2] Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).

[3] American Bar Association. (2004) Christopher Simmons. http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/simmons.html

[4] Death Penalty Information Center. (2004). U.S. Supreme Court: Roper v. Simmons. http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

[5] Greenberger, R.S. (2002, October 11). The economy: Supreme Court narrowly refuses to consider death penalty plea. The Wall Street Journal, p. A2.

[6] Gabbidon, S. L., & Greene, H. T. (2009). Race and Crime (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

[7] Roh, J. (2005). Juvenile Death Penalty: Fair or Unfair?. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,148888,00.html