In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled today, in Roper v. Simmons, that it is unconstitutional to impose capital punishment on those who committed crimes while juveniles. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion to overturn the death penalty for juveniles, which was also supported by Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. Dissenting were Justices Antonin Scalia, William Rehnquist, and Clarence Thomas, with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor providing a separate dissent. Implications of this ruling, are particularly felt in the State of Virginia, where it is now most certain that Lee Boyd Malvo will not face the death penalty. He is responsible in-part, along with John Allen Muhammad , for the DC Sniper Attacks that terrorized the Washington  DC area in October 2002. He had already been spared the death penalty in his first trial, for the murder of FBI employee, Linda Franklin, outside a Home Depot store in Falls Church, Virginia. However, Mr. Malvo is also set to face trial in Prince William County, Virginia for another murder, and yet to face trial in Louisiana and elsewhere for other killings. In light of today's Supreme Court decision, the prosecutors in Prince William County may not pursue the charges against Mr. Malvo, after all. The primary reason for extraditing these two suspects from Maryland, where they were arrested, to Virginia, was in fact the differences in how the two states deal with the death penalty. While the death penalty is allowed in Maryland, it is only applied to adults, whereas Virginia had also allowed the death penalty for juvenile offenders.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled today, in Roper v. Simmons, that it is unconstitutional to impose capital punishment on those who committed crimes while juveniles. Justice wrote the majority opinion to overturn the death penalty for juveniles, which was also supported by Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. Dissenting were Justices Antonin Scalia, William Rehnquist, and Clarence Thomas, with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor providing a separate dissent. Implications of this ruling, are particularly felt in the State of Virginia, where it is now most certain that will not face the death penalty. He is responsible in-part, along with , for the Attacks that terrorized the Washington , DC area in October 2002. He had already been spared the death penalty in his first trial, for the murder of FBI employee, Linda Franklin, outside a Home Depot store in Falls Church, Virginia. However, Mr. Malvo is also set to face trial in Prince William County, Virginia for another murder, and yet to face trial in Louisiana and elsewhere for other killings. In light of today's Supreme Court decision, the prosecutors in Prince William County may not pursue the charges against Mr. Malvo, after all. The primary reason for extraditing these two suspects from Maryland, where they were arrested, to Virginia, was in fact the differences in how the two states deal with the death penalty. While the death penalty is allowed in Maryland, it is only applied to adults, whereas Virginia had also allowed the death penalty for juvenile offenders.
D
Anthony Kennedy
D
Lee Boyd Malvo
D
John Allen Muhammad
D
DC Sniper
A
,