Roper v. Simmons

Roper v. Simmons

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Roper v. Simmons

Facts of Case

            The case Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005) was a landmark court decision that was presided over by the Supreme Court of the United States (Vollum et al., 2015). The case established precedents that determined a modern legal principle with great significance. This case was among other cases that posed an effect to the interpretation of an existing law. The case was reviewed in the Supreme Court to preside over the constitutionality of the death penalty as in criminal and coon law against juvenile delinquents. The defendant, Christopher Simmons was convicted for the murder of Shirley Cook. The defendant was 17 years old when found guilty of murder. He was sentenced to death with conviction of first-degree murder (Vollum et al., 2015). However, after nine years, the Missouri Supreme Court analyzed the case and nullified the case. Their argument was because the public and national educated associations echo an accord that that failed to support the death penalty. Based on the eighth amendment provision that elaborates on the impact of cruel and unwarranted punishment juvenile executions were prohibited.

Arguments

            The case argument took into account whether the imposition of execution to a person who was below the age of 17 was permissible if they performed the murder crime as provided by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Case hearings began in 2004 where the appeal disputed the constitutional allowance of issuing capital punishment through execution for juveniles (Vollum et al., 2015). In this case, juveniles were considered people below the age of 18. Based on the previous court cases in 1988 and 1989, the Supreme Court disqualified any possibility of execution for people who were between the age 16 and 17 at the time of conviction. In light of these convictions, the Supreme Court in support of the majority highlighted that it was inappropriate to execute juveniles considering the immaturity level as well as irresponsibility that is associated by the adolescents. This argument was solely based on the sociological and scientific research that was presented against the adolescents.

Similarly, the court was sensitized on the challenges that the adolescents face such as external peer pressure and negative influence. In respect to this, it is possible that the defendant lacked control of their actions and over the situation. As part of the national accord, the Supreme Court identified that it lowered the rate at which it issued capital punishment to criminals below the age of 16. Most of the courts had not implemented any juvenile executions for junior offenders as much as the law was effective. The arguments posed in this case sought reference from the Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) that focused on mental cases of juvenile capital crimes (Vollum et al., 2015).

Holdings

            The Supreme Court held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments prohibit the imposition of execution for juvenile offenders who are older than 15 but below the age of 18 years once they committed a capital offence (Freeman & Goodenough, 2009). This holding took the effort of the Supreme Court to come to a consensus with the Missouri Supreme Court regarding the death penalty for juveniles. The holding from the original court ruling had issued execution of the defendant for an indefinite time. The appellate court highlighted that the case constituted a juvenile offender and punishment through execution was impermissible. The Missouri court reversed Simmons death verdict and sentenced him to life incarceration with no likelihood of parole. In light of this, the U.S. Supreme Court established certiorari to find out if the obligation of the death penalty on a juvenile who commits a capital offense is brutal and a bizarre penalty and is barred by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.

APA Brief

The American Psychological Association (APA) in regards to the court case through research and developed arguments has offered its opinion on the execution of the juveniles (Haider, 2005). Their argument is meant to incorporate the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to the benefit of the society and to ensure the improvement of the people’s lives. Together with the Missouri Psychological Association (MPA), the APA released an amicus brief behavioral research on the characteristics that adolescents display as they aim at understanding various issues. In the brief, APA identifies that adolescents as a group tend to think and behave differently from adults. In such cases, the constitutional rational that is used to preside over such cases is limited. Arguably, during the adolescent stage, people often experience a number of psychological and psychosocial characteristics that warrant different approach. It is a crucial stage where adults are required to understand their adolescents and help them through.

Considering the characters that come with this stage, it is more likely that the adolescence is susceptible to risks that may lead to criminal behavior. From previous research, adolescents have been associated with reckless behavior that continually increases with exposure to inappropriate peers. For instance, the case of Simmons was meant to be robbery that emerged to be a murder case. It was performed with the presence of the peers. Once criminal cases are grouped and evaluated, the frequency and incidence levels for the adolescents are considered higher. Most behaviorists associate this increase with the inability of the offenders to understand the implication of such activities. They often consider the excitement, peer recognition and impulsivity that come with crime. However, this behavior changes as the people grow into more responsible and conscious of the consequences.

A major issue that has been seen is the unavailability of the law to cater for capital offences against adolescents. The standards kept by the Eighth Amendment surpass the ability of the capital sentencing proceedings to offer a remedy for cases of juvenile offenders. From the jurisdiction offered by the court, it may be impossible to reverse various judgments made by the Supreme Court. However, the credibility of the court may be questionable considering that the Missouri court reversed Simmons conviction based on the argument that he was an adolescent. Nonetheless, based on the provisions offered in the Eighth Amendment, the law allows the jury an opportunity to welcome any evidence corresponding to the judgment. Often, it considers the behavior and previous record of the offender. It allows the jury the opportunity to judge based on the future dangerousness of the juvenile.

Opinion

In my opinion, I believe that the court ruling was appropriate. Based on the provisions offered by the APA and MPA, the Supreme Court needs to design new standards that will consider the consequences for juvenile offenders below 18 years (Haider, 2005). Similarly, I believe that the principles of decorum have changed in a way that executing juvenile offenders who committed crimes while younger than 18 is considered a brutal and bizarre penalty. The Eighth Amendment also outlaws it. In the future, it would be important to focus on additional issues such as capital crimes committed by mental juvenile delinquents (Vollum et al., 2015). Considering the nature of adolescents, it is unlikely to conclude that the rate of juvenile capital crime will reduce. It also needs to lapse of time connecting an offense and sentencing, which is likely to obscure judgment of the juvenile capital defendant. Nonetheless, it is important to understand how to approach such offenders and work towards rehabilitation. Once they understand the areas adversely affected, they will be able to employ competence and professional approach to avoid issues that were present as in the case of Roper v. Simmons.

 

References

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Freeman, M. D. A., & Goodenough, O. R. (2009). Law, mind and brain. Farnham, England: Ashgate.

Haider, A. (2005). Roper v. Simmons: The role of the science brief. Ohio St. J. Crim. L., 3, 369.

Vollum, S., Del, C. R. V., Frantzen, D., San, M. C., & Cheeseman, K. (2015). The death penalty: Constitutional issues, commentaries, and case briefs. Waltham, MA : Anderson Publishing.Bottom of Form

 

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