Opinion ID: 1574330
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Juvenile Mental Age

Text: Bowling argues that the Roper decision must be interpreted as prohibiting the execution of not only those offenders whose chronological age is below eighteen, but also those offenders whose mental age is below eighteen. Bowling contends that unlike the Supreme Court's prior decisions dealing with the juvenile death penalty, Roper defines juvenile and youthful person in terms of the mental development and impairments that are inherent in anyone who functions as a juvenile, not just those who are chronologically juveniles. See Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815, 108 S.Ct. 2687, 101 L.Ed.2d 702 (1988) (plurality opinion prohibiting imposition of death penalty on any juvenile under the chronological age of sixteen at the time of offense). See also Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361, 109 S.Ct. 2969, 106 L.Ed.2d 306 (1989); Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 102 S.Ct. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982). Bowling points out that the Roper decision focuses on the immaturity, irresponsibility, and susceptibility to negative influences inherent in juveniles, and how such factors prevent the only recognized goals of the death penaltyretribution and deterrence of prospective offenders [2] from being satisfied. Thus, Bowling concludes that because such rationale has no relation to a person's chronological age, but only to his or her mental age, the Court was clearly imposing a broad restriction against the execution of any offender who mentally functions below the level of an average chronological eighteen year old. We do not necessarily disagree that, in theory, the broad concepts espoused by the Supreme Court could pertain to those who function at the mental level of a juvenile. To be sure, the Roper Court recognized that there are adults who have the mental abilities of a juvenile, as well as those juveniles who function at a level far beyond their years. For that reason, however, the Court established a bright line rule: Drawing the line at 18 years of age is subject, of course, to the objections always raised against categorical rules. The qualities that distinguish juveniles from adults do not disappear when an individual turns 18. By the same token, some under 18 have already attained a level of maturity some adults will never reach. For the reasons we have discussed, however, a line must be drawn. The plurality opinion in Thompson drew the line at 16. In the intervening years the Thompson plurality's conclusion that offenders under 16 may not be executed has not been challenged. The logic of Thompson extends to those who are under 18. The age of 18 is the point where society draws the line for many purposes between childhood and adulthood. It is, we conclude, the age at which the line for death eligibility ought to rest. Roper, 543 U.S. at 574, 125 S.Ct. at 1197-98, 161 L.Ed.2d at 24-25. The plain language of Roper compels the conclusion that its prohibition is limited to the execution of an offender for any crime committed before his 18th birthday. . . . Id. at 588, 125 S.Ct. at 1206, 161 L.Ed.2d at 38. (O'Connor, J. dissenting). As the Commonwealth notes, the concept of juvenile mental age as a basis to preclude the death penalty was discussed by Justice O'Conner in Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 109 S.Ct. 2934, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989), abrogated by Atkins, supra : Penry urges us to rely on the concept of mental age, and to hold that execution of any person with a mental age of seven or below would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. . . . Mental age is calculated as the chronological age of nonretarded children whose average IQ test performance is equivalent to that of the individual with mental retardation. . . . See D. Wechsler, The Measurement and Appraisal of Adult Intelligence 24-25 (4th ed. 1958). . . . [T]he mental age concept, irrespective of its intuitive appeal, is problematic in several respects. As the AAMR acknowledges, [t]he equivalence between nonretarded children and retarded adults is, of course, imprecise. . . . The mental age concept may underestimate the life experiences of retarded adults, while it may overestimate the ability of retarded adults to use logic and foresight to solve problems. The mental age concept has other limitations as well. Beyond the chronological age of 15 or 16, the mean scores on most intelligence tests cease to increase significantly with age. Wechsler 26. As a result, [t]he average mental age of the average 20 year old is not 20 but 15 years. Id., at 27. See also In re Ramon M., 22 Cal.3d 419, 429, 149 Cal.Rptr. 387, 394, 584 P.2d 524, 531 (1978) ([T]he `mental age' of the average adult under present norms is approximately 16 years and 8 months). Not surprisingly, courts have long been reluctant to rely on the concept of mental age as a basis for exculpating a defendant from criminal responsibility. See, e.g., In re Ramon M., supra, 22 Cal.3d at 429, 149 Cal.Rptr. at 394, 584 P.2d at 531; State v. Schilling, 95 N.J.L. 145, 148, 112 A. 400, 402 (1920); People v. Marquis, 344 Ill. 261, 267, 176 N.E. 314, 316 (1931); Chriswell v. State, 171 Ark. 255, 259, 283 S.W. 981, 983 (1926). Cf. Pickett v. State, 37 Ala.App. 410, 71 So.2d 102, 107 (1953). See generally Ellis & Luckasson, 53 Geo. Wash. L.Rev., at 435. Moreover, reliance on mental age to measure the capabilities of a retarded person for purposes of the Eighth Amendment could have a disempowering effect if applied in other areas of the law. Thus, on that premise, a mildly mentally retarded person could be denied the opportunity to enter into contracts or to marry by virtue of the fact that he had a mental age of a young child. In light of the inherent problems with the mental age concept, and in the absence of better evidence of a national consensus against execution of the retarded, mental age should not be adopted as a line-drawing principle in our Eighth Amendment jurisprudence. Penry, 492 U.S. at 339-40, 109 S.Ct. at 2957-58, 106 L.Ed.2d at 291-92. While the other members of the Court did not join Justice O'Conner's opinion with respect to mental age, none explicitly rejected it. Nor has the Court since Penry considered such a theory. Nevertheless, Justice O'Conner's discussion certainly belies Bowling's claim that the Roper Court intended for the definition of juvenile to include those who mentally function at a juvenile level. There simply is no language to support such a conclusion. The Court was unquestionably well-versed in the concept of mental age and would have explicitly adopted mental age as a criterion had it wished to do so. Bowling has not cited any published authority prohibiting the death penalty based upon juvenile mental age. Nor has Bowling demonstrated a national consensus that mental age should be a criterion by which to exclude the death penalty. Without question, the Supreme Court has been presented with and has considered the concept of mental age. Penry . Thus, we conclude that Roper v. Simmons only prohibits the execution of those offenders whose chronological age was below eighteen at the time of the commission of the offense. See also Hill v. State, 921 So.2d 579, 584 (Fla.2006).