Source: Kaleem, Jaweed. Little Rock, Arkansas, 2017.
"The Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed. The judgment of the Missouri Supreme Court setting aside the sentence of death imposed upon Christopher Simmons is affirmed.
It is so ordered."
- Justice Stevens, Opinion of the Court, Roper v. Simmons, 2005
Source: Death Penalty News, 2010, deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/cartoons-on-capital-punishment.html.
Source: Kaleem, Jaweed. Varner, Arkansas, 2017.
Source: Death Penalty Information Center, States With and Without Death Penalty, 2019.
Support for ending the juvenile death penalty was by no means unanimous. In fact, the 5-4 decision in Roper v. Simmons shows that even the Supreme Court Justices were heavily divided.
"That 12 States favor no executions says something about consensus against the death penalty, but nothing—absolutely nothing—about consensus that offenders under 18 deserve special immunity from such a penalty. In repealing the death penalty, those 12 States considered none of the factors that the Court puts forth as determinative of the issue before us today—lower culpability of the young, inherent recklessness, lack of capacity for considered judgment, etc."
- Roper V. Simmons, Dissenting Opinion, 2005
“'The history of the death penalty instructs that there is danger in inferring a settled societal consensus from statistics like those relied on in this case.'"
- Justice O'Connor, quoted by Justice Scalia, Roper v. Simmons, 2005
"To support its opinion that States should be prohibited from imposing the death penalty on anyone who committed murder before age 18, the Court looks to scientific and sociological studies, picking and choosing those that support its position. It never explains why those particular studies are methodologically sound; none was ever entered into evidence or tested in an adversarial proceeding."
- Roper v. Simmons, Dissenting Opinion, 2005
"Perhaps even more important than our specific holding today is our reaffirmation of the basic principle that informs the Court’s interpretation of the Eighth Amendment. If the meaning of that Amendment had been frozen when it was originally drafted, it would impose no impediment to the execution of 7-year-old children today."
- Roper v. Simmons, Concurring Opinion, 2005
"In the best tradition of the common law, the pace of that evolution is a matter for continuing debate; but that our understanding of the Constitution does change from time to time has been settled since John Marshall breathed life into its text. If great lawyers of his day—Alexander Hamilton, for example—were sitting with us today, I would expect them to join Justice Kennedy’s opinion for the Court. In all events, I do so without hesitation."
- Roper v. Simmons, Concurring Opinion, 2005
"The differences between juvenile and adult offenders are too marked and well understood to risk allowing a youthful person to receive the death penalty despite insufficient culpability. An unacceptable likelihood exists that the brutality or cold-blooded nature of any particular crime would overpower mitigating arguments based on youth as a matter of course, even where the juvenile offender’s objective immaturity, vulnerability, and lack of true depravity should require a sentence less severe than death."
- Justice Stevens, Opinion of the Court, Roper v. Simmons, 2005
Source: Chappatte, Patrick. “In Death Penalty We Trust.” Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, 2016.
Though the death penalty in general is still very controversial today, a majority now views the death penalty for juveniles as cruel and uncivilized. This was reflected in the decision of Roper v. Simmons, where it was declared unconstitutional to execute individuals that have not yet reached legal adulthood (eighteen years of age).
"With less than 5% of the world’s population yet nearly 25% of the world’s prisoners, the U.S. is absurdly out of step with the rest of the world. In order to reverse this trend sentencing reform is desperately needed."
~ACLU, "Real Criminal Justice Reform Now"
“During closing arguments, both the prosecutor and defense counsel addressed Simmons’ age, which the trial judge had instructed the jurors they could consider as a mitigating factor. Defense counsel reminded the jurors that juveniles of Simmons’ age cannot drink, serve on juries, or even see certain movies, because “the legislatures have wisely decided that individuals of a certain age aren’t responsible enough.”’
~Roper v. Simmons, 2005
1982 Convicted Murderer Asks for Parole Hearing, WHAS 11, March 25, 2019
"ONE OF LOUISEVILLE'S MOST NOTORIOUS KILLERS WANTS TO GET OUT OF PRISON. KEVIN STANFORD WAS BACK IN A COURTROOM ON MARCH 25 AS HIS ATTOURNEY ASKED A JUDGE FOR A PAROLE HEARING."
"Stanford's attorney said his sentence is illegal because it's longer than what he would receive if he committed the crime in 2019."
"Our view of the case is that we should be entitled to relief under the 8th amendment."
“He's turned his life around from the 17-year-old who was involved in this offense to a middle-aged gentleman and somebody who really doesn't need to be in prison and who could be safely returned to society on parole.”
- Tim Arnold, Kevin Stanford's attorney
"The victim’s family feel differently."
"I have come within myself to accept life without parole...I want to see Kevin Stanford stay in prison until his last dying breath."
“My sister isn't coming back through that door...I can't even bring myself to go to the cemetery anymore to visit her. I hate it there. They talk about retroactive, retroactive rights, where are hers? There isn't any, she's dead."
- Mona Mills, sister of Barbell Poore [the victim]
Source: Zygus, Adam. The Buffalo News.