There is a debate over juveniles and the death penalty. Discuss this debate. Be sure to include Roper v. Simmons (2005). Do you agree with the juvenile death penalty? Why or why not?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The death penalty has always been one of the most contentious issues in discussions about American justice. Capital punishment as applied to youthful offenders has, until recently, been handled in very different ways by the individual states, with some states allowing the execution of persons who were as young as 16 at the time of their offense and other states banning the death penalty for any offender, regardless of age.

The American Bar Association took an official stance against executing juveniles when it adopted the following American Bar Association opposes, in principle, policy statement in August 1983: "BE IT RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association opposes, in principle, the imposition of capital punishment upon any person for any offense committed while under the age of eighteen (18).".

Then came Roper, which effectively made moot the issue of the juvenile death penalty. Although some still advocate the appropriateness of this sanction, the Court has determined the practice of sentencing juveniles to death to be unconstitutional. This case began in 1993 when 17-year-old Christopher Simmons, a White male with no prior criminal record or history of violence, kidnapped neighbor Shirley Crook during a burglary at her Missouri home, hogtied her and then pushed her off a bridge into the river below. The coroner ruled she died by drowning. According to reports, Simmons had bragged to friends that he could get away with the murder because of his age. The trial jury, however, disagreed and sentenced Simmons to death.