ROPER, SUPERINTENDENT, POTOSI CORRECTIONAL CENTER v. SIMMONS: certiorari to the supreme court of missouri.

ROPER v. Simmons; LEGAL status of juvenile offenders; JUVENILE delinquency; JUVENILE corrections; CAPITAL punishment laws; LIFE sentences -- Law & legislation; UNITED States. Supreme Court

The article presents U.S. Supreme Court case Roper, superintendent, Potosi Correctional Center v. Simmons, number 03-633, argued on October 13, 2004 and decided on March 1, 2005. The Court addresses whether it is permissible under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution to execute a juvenile offender who was a minor when he committed a capital crime. Justice Anthony Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court, which affirmed the ruling of the Missouri Supreme Court setting aside the death sentence to respondent in favor of life imprisonment without eligibility for release. The U.S. Supreme Court also affirmed the death penalty prohibition for offenders who were minors when their crimes were committed under the Amendments.