Opinion ID: 1574330
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Roper v. Simmons

Text: The United States Supreme Court's recent decision in Roper v. Simmons declared it unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment for a state to execute any individual who was under the age of eighteen (18) at the time of the offense. Noting that a majority of states have rejected the imposition of the death penalty on juveniles under 18, the Court found evidence sufficient to demonstrate a national consensus. The evidence of national consensus against the death penalty for juveniles is similar, and in some respects parallel, to the evidence Atkins held sufficient to demonstrate a national consensus against the death penalty for the mentally retarded. 543 U.S. at 564, 125 S.Ct. at 1192, 161 L.Ed.2d at 18. In justifying the prohibition of the death penalty on those less than 18 years of age, the Court explained: Three general differences between juveniles under 18 and adults demonstrate that juvenile offenders cannot with reliability be classified among the worst offenders. First, as any parent knows and as the scientific and sociological studies respondent and his amici cite tend to confirm, [a] lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility are found in youth more often than in adults and are more understandable among the young. These qualities often result in impetuous and ill-considered actions and decisions. [ Johnson v. Texas, 509 U.S. 350, 367, 113 S.Ct. 2658]; see also [ Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 115-116, 102 S.Ct. 869] (Even the normal 16-year-old customarily lacks the maturity of an adult). . . . In recognition of the comparative immaturity and irresponsibility of juveniles, almost every State prohibits those under 18 years of age from voting, serving on juries, or marrying without parental consent. . . . The second area of difference is that juveniles are more vulnerable or susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures, including peer pressure. Eddings, supra, at 115, 455 U.S. 104, 102 S.Ct. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 ([Y]outh is more than a chronological fact. It is a time and condition of life when a person may be most susceptible to influence and to psychological damage). This is explained in part by the prevailing circumstance that juveniles have less control, or less experience with control, over their own environment. See Steinberg & Scott, Less Guilty by Reason of Adolescence: Developmental Immaturity, Diminished Responsibility, and the Juvenile Death Penalty, 58 Am. Psychologist 1009, 1014 (2003) (hereinafter Steinberg & Scott) ([A]s legal minors, [juveniles] lack the freedom that adults have to extricate themselves from a criminogenic setting). The third broad difference is that the character of a juvenile is not as well formed as that of an adult. The personality traits of juveniles are more transitory, less fixed. See generally E. Erikson, identity: Youth and Crisis (1968). These differences render suspect any conclusion that a juvenile falls among the worst offenders. The susceptibility of juveniles to immature and irresponsible behavior means their irresponsible conduct is not as morally reprehensible as that of an adult. Thompson, supra, at 835, 487 U.S. 815, 108 S.Ct. 2687, 101 L.Ed.2d 702 (plurality opinion). . . . The reality that juveniles still struggle to define their identity means it is less supportable to conclude that even a heinous crime committed by a juvenile is evidence of irretrievably depraved character. From a moral standpoint it would be misguided to equate the failings of a minor with those of an adult, for a greater possibility exists that a minor's character deficiencies will be reformed. Indeed, [t]he relevance of youth as a mitigating factor derives from the fact that the signature qualities of youth are transient; as individuals mature, the impetuousness and recklessness that may dominate in younger years can subside. Johnson, supra, at 368, 509 U.S. 350, 113 S.Ct. 2658, 125 L.Ed.2d 290; see also Steinberg & Scott 1014 (For most teens, [risky or antisocial] behaviors are fleeting; they cease with maturity as individual identity becomes settled. Only a relatively small proportion of adolescents who experiment in risky or illegal activities develop entrenched patterns of problem behavior that persist into adulthood). In Thompson , a plurality of the Court recognized the import of these characteristics with respect to juveniles under 16, and relied on them to hold that the Eighth Amendment prohibited the imposition of the death penalty on juveniles below that age. 487 U.S., at 833-838, 108 S.Ct. 2687, 101 L.Ed.2d 702. We conclude the same reasoning applies to all juvenile offenders under 18. Roper, 543 U.S. at 569-72, 125 S.Ct. at 1195-96, 161 L.Ed.2d at 21-23.