Juveniles

Running head: NEW POLICY ON THE DEATH PENALTY FOR MINORS New Policy on the Death Penalty for Minors Paula Weldon Kaplan University CJ 523 Professor John Parham June 12, 2012 New Policy on the Death Penalty for Minors Roper vs. Simmons On March 1, 2005 the Roper v. Simmons murder trial took place. It was about this time that the Atkins v. Virginia trial was decided, and Atkins won the favor. Atkins filed for mental retardation which influenced the court in a huge way. In this era, if one was guilty of murder he or she deserved the death penalty. It was because of this belief that the 1st court decision of Roper v. Simmons was made. Christopher Simmons planned the burglary and murder of Shirley Cook with his friends in 1993; Simmons and one other friend met around midnight, and went to Shirley Cook’s house where they covered her eyes, tied her hands together, and tossed her off of a bridge. When they were caught the case went to trial. The court had conclusive evidence that Simmons was indeed murderer, so Simmons had to admit to the crime. Even though Simmons had a spotless record the jury returned with a guilty verdict to the death penalty. The trial however, was moved to a lesser death penalty because Simmons asked the courts to consider the horrible childhood he had, his addition to drugs, and the accomplice he had with him at the time of the offense. The trial however rejected his move, but Simmons appealed. It was then that Simmons filed for a new petition for the state after hearing about the Atkins v Virginia trial and how the death sentence was overturned due to the eighth amendment. The 8th amendment prohibits unfair and cruel punishment, and this happened to be a main factor in the case. Simmons challenged the state of Missouri on the grounds of giving capital punishment to juveniles who commit crimes. His case was argued on October 13, 2004, but was not decided until March 1, 2005. Mr. Simmons received life in prison with no chances for parole. BASIS In Roper vs. Simmons, the basis of the Supreme Court’s opinion was founded on the principals of various arguments in cases of earlier years. The court’s opinion was to go ahead with the national consensus, being the death penalty for juvenile offenders was both cruel and unusual punishment. Atkins vs. Virginia, Thompson vs. Oklahoma, and Stanford vs. Kentucky all involved juveniles and the sentencing structure and whether or not juveniles (between 15 and 18 years of age) should be sentenced to death. Of course Roper vs. Simmons broke the standard and changed the ruling. Adolescents are most likely to benefit when lawgivers grant restrictions of their decision-making capability within the criminal justice system. When the U.S. Supreme Court disproved the juvenile death penalty in Roper v. Simmons, it was based on observing adolescents as not being as developed or accountable as adults. The plurality opinion elucidated that no State supporting the death penalty had set the age lower than 16, and noted that civilized standards of decency would be offended if an execution of an individual below the age of 16 took place. DISSENT Both Justice O'Connor and Scalia wrote dissents. Justice O'Connor expressed concern for the organization of a categorical rule which prohibited executing juvenile offenders. She granted that adolescents are not as mature as adults; howbeit, she concluded many state legislatures allow for some murderers to receive the death penalty who are the age of 17. O’Connor challenged the allegation that a weighty change in the rejection of society on juvenile death penalty had taken place since the Court's ruling in Stanford. In explicating whether a national consensus had developed against executing juvenile offenders, Justice O'Connor debated the evidence was feebler in this case than in Atkins. Justice Scalia was joined by Justice Thomas and Chief Justice Rehnquist. He suggested that a national consensus against the juvenile death penalty developed over the previous 15 years, and was based on the “flimsiest of grounds” (Lane, 2005). He questioned the idea of a national consensus developing when less than half of death penalty states forbid capital punishment for juvenile offenders. There were only four states that raised the age limit for imposing the death penalty since the Stanford ruling. Also, four states verified the age of 16 as the minimum age through ballot initiative or statute. Scalia grappled that juries' scarce obligations regarding juvenile death penalty was not evidence of a consensus against executing juvenile offenders but evidence of a jury’s ability to consider a young person’s age as a lessor factor when deliberating the death sentence. Roper v. Simmons case has created implications as far as the age of young offenders and the justice system: there seems to be conflicting images regarding our youth according to American law and culture, which ranges to youth being vulnerable and needing protection to being on the same line of an adult whereas protection is unheard of (Streib, 2000). The main policy arising from this case is that juveniles are indeed different from adults and it is within the jurisdiction of the courts to protect such youth from biases. It all boils down to one significant mater: what counts in the long run is the age of the child. What do I feel about juveniles and the death penalty' Everybody who commits a first degree crime should receive the death penalty regardless if they are a juvenile or not. The death penalty defends human rights by establishing the mentality that we will not tolerate any violation of any innocent person's human rights. A heinous crime that takes the life of someone other than in self-defense deserves the death penalty. No matter a person’s age they should be held accountable for what they do, and if they commit a capital crime then they need to be put to death!!!! References Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) Roper v. Simmons, 125 S. Ct. 1183 (2005) Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815 (1988) Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361 (1989 Lane, C., (March 2, 2005) 5-4 Supreme Court Abolishes Juvenile Executions. The Washington Post. Streib, V.L. (2000). The Juvenile Death Penalty Today: Death Sentences and Executions for Juvenile Crimes.