On September 9, 1993, Christopher Simmons was arrested for the murder of Shirley Crook.  He tied her up with cables and duct-tape and dumped her into a river, where she drowned.  He was only 17-years-old when he committed the crime and he landed on Missouri's death row.

When Simmons was sentenced to death, he joined nearly 80 other people in the U.S. who are currently sitting on death row because of crimes they committed as juveniles.  The Missouri Supreme Court, however, overturned his death sentence, declaring it unconstitutional to execute individuals who were under the age of 18 at the time of their offenses.

The Missouri Attorney General's Office appealed the court's decision last month, propelling the juvenile death penalty debate into the national spotlight.  Juvenile death penalty supporters and opponents are now waiting to see if the United States Supreme Court will address the issue during its next term.

"It seems to me that the Missouri Supreme Court is trying to goad the U.S. Supreme Court into reversing itself," said Robert Blecker, a criminal law professor at New York Law School.  "They're trying to force the issue."

Setting the Precedent

In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court set the precedent for executing juveniles when it ruled in Thompson v. Oklahoma that imposing death sentences on juveniles who committed crimes when they were 15-years-old or younger constituted cruel and unusual punishment.  A year later, in Stanford v. Kentucky, the Supreme Court clarified its ruling, stating that because there was no national consensus on the matter, it would not ban the executions of juveniles who were ages 16 or 17 at the time of their crimes.

"The Supreme Court has ruled that it is OK to execute juveniles," said Beth Hammock, Communications Director for the Missouri Attorney General's Office.  "We see it as our duty to uphold the law."

Missouri is one of 17 states that permits the execution of juveniles who committed crimes when they were 16-years-old.  According to the Death Penalty Information Center, five other states have set their minimum age for juvenile execution at 17 while 16 states require that criminals be at least 18 at the time of their offenses in order to be sentenced to death.

With the U.S. Supreme Court allowing the execution of people who committed crimes when they were older than 15 years and the Missouri Supreme Court declaring that juveniles, like Christopher Simmons, must be at least 18 to receive the death penalty, a conflict has arisen that the state Attorney General's Office wants solved.

"In this case, it was the jury's recommendation that Christopher Simmons receive the death penalty," Hammock said.  "We are abiding by the wishes of the jury," she added.  "It's very important to get a [U.S. Supreme Court] ruling [on this case]."

Taking the Case

As the U.S. Supreme Court decides which cases it will hear during its 2004 term, no one is quite sure whether or not the Simmons case and the juvenile death penalty will make it onto the docket, given the fact that the Court passed on a similar case last term.

"It's too early to tell what the Supreme Court is going to do with [the Simmons case]," said Stephen Harper, an adjunct professor at University of Miami's School of Law and the coordinator of the Juvenile Death Penalty Initiative.  "Its docket is pretty full."

If the Supreme Court does take the case, Harper explained, it will likely rule that it is unconstitutional to execute people who were under 18 years of age when they committed crimes, which is in line with the Missouri Supreme Court's decision.

"It's very, very close as to whether [the U.S. Supreme Court] will find it to be cruel and unusual punishment to execute 16 and 17-year-olds," Harper said.  "They are only one justice away from [that]," he added, noting that four justices dissented from the opinion of the Court in the Stanford case.

Considering the Factors

Also adding to the likelihood that the Supreme Court will declare the juvenile death penalty unconstitutional is its ruling on another death penalty case heard earlier this year, upon which the Missouri Supreme Court based its decision to overturn Simmons' death sentence, Harper said. 

In this case, Atkins v. Virginia, the Court ruled that it is cruel and unusual punishment to execute individuals who are mentally retarded because they are lacking in the areas of reason, judgment and control over their impulses.  Harper expects that the Court will find the limitations of adolescents to be similar to those of the mentally retarded.

"It's not just a matter of morality, it's also now become a matter of science," Harper said.    "There have been some really remarkable discoveries about the adult brain."

According to Harper, recent studies show that the adult brain is not fully developed until the late teenage years and the last part of development involves impulse control.

"That's not to say adolescents don't know right from wrong," Harper said.  "They just shouldn't be subjected to the ultimate punishment," he added.  "It's very similar to the mentally retarded [issue]."

In addition to the biological factors associated with executing juveniles, Harper expects that, should the Supreme Court take the case, it will also consider how the juvenile death penalty is viewed internationally.

"The United States, Iran, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo--those are the only three countries that have executed juveniles in the past three years," Harper said.  According to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, since 1990, the U.S. has executed more juvenile offenders than all other countries who practice the juvenile death penalty combined.

"The international perspective and the international law on this particular issue are huge," Harper said.  "We're a human rights leader in so many ways, except this area."

Supporting the Juvenile Death Penalty

While, internationally, the juvenile death penalty has little support, there are still some advocates in this country, like Blecker, who believe that it should remain a sentencing option for juveniles who commit certain crimes.

"There are juveniles who are capable of evil, who are morally callous and inhumane," Blecker said.  "I think it is right to continue to make them death-eligible."

Blecker does not believe in excessive use of the juvenile death penalty, however.

"Just because they are death-eligible doesn't mean they should die," Blecker pointed out.  "[They should be executed] almost never," he said.  "But, almost never is not never."
 
According to Blecker, cases in which the juvenile death penalty could be applied should be evaluated individually "with a very strong presumption against executing anyone who killed under the age of 18."

But, the question of whether or not to sentence a particular juvenile offender under the age of 18 to death will no longer apply in such cases if the Supreme Court decides to hear the Missouri case and rules that it is unconstitutional to impose the death penalty on people who committed crimes at ages 16 or 17.

Given the arguments against the juvenile death penalty, Blecker agrees with Harper that the Supreme Court will likely do just that if it takes on the case.

"I think we have seen the last execution of anyone in the U.S. [who committed their crime when they were under the age of 18]," Blecker said.

It remains to be seen, however, if a decision will come from the Supreme Court during the 2004 term.

"It's hard to say what the Supreme Court is going to do," said Harper, noting that it could potentially pass on the case, giving states more time to examine the issue.  "If I could predict, I'm sure I could make a lot of money."

Resources

To contact Stephen Harper, call (305) 754-8268

To contact Robert Blecker, call (212) 431-2873

To contact the Missouri Attorney General's Office, call (573) 751-3321 or go to www.ago.state.mo.us

To learn more about the Death Penalty Information Center, go to www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

To learn more about the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, go to www.ncadp.org

To learn more about the Juvenile Death Penalty, go to the American Bar Association's Juvenile Justice Center www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus