Roper v. Simmons: Difference between revisions

==The ruling==

This case was argued on October 13, 2004. The appeal challenged the constitutionality of capital punishment for persons who were juveniles when their crimes were committed, citing the [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighth Amendment]] protection against [[cruel and unusual punishment]].

A 1988 Supreme Court decision ''[[Thompson v. Oklahoma]]'' barred execution of offenders under the age of 16. In 1989, another case, ''[[Stanford v. Kentucky]]'' upheld the possibility of capital punishment for offenders who were 16 or 17 years old when they committed the capital offense. The same day in [[1989]], the Supreme Court ruled in the case ''[[Penry v. Lynaugh]]'', that it was permissible to execute the mentally retarded. However, in 2002, that decision was overruled in ''[[Atkins v. Virginia]]'', where the Court held that evolving standards of decency had made the execution of the mentally retarded cruel and unusual punishment and thus unconstitutional.