Source: “Drawing of Hannah Ocuish's Execution.” Hartford Courant, 1 Apr. 2014.
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Hannah Ocuish, hanged for murder, is the youngest personal legally executed in the US at the age of 12.
Source: “Drawing of Hannah Ocuish's Execution.” Hartford Courant, 1 Apr. 2014.
Hannah Ocuish, hanged for murder, is the youngest personal legally executed in the US at the age of 12.
Supreme Court holds that the standards for "cruel and unusual punishment" should be based upon contemporary standards rather than the time period during which the legislation was written.
"Legislation... is enacted from an experience of evils but its general language should not, therefore, be necessarily confined to the form that evil had theretofore taken. Time works changes, brings into existence new conditions and purposes. Therefore a principle to be vital must be capable of wider application than the mischief which gave it birth."
14 years 7 months, George Stinney becomes the youngest person to be legally executed in the United States during the 20th century.
The Supreme Court declares all death penalty sentences unconstitutional for lacking standards to decide whether or not inmates should be executed.
"These death sentences are cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual... "The Eighth Amendment... cannot tolerate the infliction of a sentence of death under legal systems that permit this unique penalty to be so wantonly and so freakishly imposed."
The Supreme Court reaffirms capital punishment and declares that it aligns with the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
"The Georgia statutory system under which petitioner was sentenced to death is constitutional. The new procedures... satisfy the concerns of Furman, since, before the death penalty can be imposed, there must be specific jury findings as to the circumstances of the crime... to ensure that the sentence of death in a particular case is not disproportionate."
The Supreme Court bars the execution of individuals for crimes committed when 15 years old or younger.
"It would offend civilized standards of decency to execute a person who was less than 16 years old at the time of his or her offense. That conclusion is also consistent with the views expressed by respected professional organizations, by other nations that share the Anglo-American heritage, and by the leading members of the Western European Community."
The Supreme Court establishes that the execution of an individual of at least 16 years of age aligns with the Eighth Amendment.
The Supreme Court establishes that the execution of an individual for crimes committed under the age of 18 violates the Eighth Amendment.
The Supreme Court declares a life sentence without parole unconstitutional for crimes committed when under age 18.
"Mandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological age and its hallmark features – among them, immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate risks and consequences... It prevents taking into account the environment that surrounds him – and from which he cannot usually extricate himself – no matter how brutal or dysfunctional."