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Standford v Kentucky
Years before the Roper vs Simmons case, the supreme court voted on a case that fought for the same thing. When he was 17, Kevin Stanford, murdered a gas station attendant. When the case was brought to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court ruled held the lower courts ruling. -
Atkins vs Virginia
Atkins vs Virginia was a 2002 supreme court case that barred states from executing mentally retarded criminals. After an IQ test, Atkins was found to be mentally retarded, and the court ruled that he couldn’t be executed because of that. This case was used as precedent in the Roper vs Simmons. -
Lower Courts
The court heard that Simmons convinced two people to help him burglarize a home and then murder the resident. The crime was premeditated. They tied her up with rope and duct tape, and threw her into a river. He was 17 at the time. Afterwards, he bragged about the crime and claimed they wouldn’t get in trouble because they were minors. -
Trial at supreme court
Obviously the biggest factor in this trial was Simmons age at the time of the crime. Simmons was 17, and his lawyer pointed out that people his age were widely considered to be too young for things. 17 year olds cannot drink, serve on juries, or even see certain movies. Expects evaluated Simmons, and testified that he seemed impulsive and immature. -
Dissenting Opinion
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor disagreed with the court, saying that while she was morally inclined to agree with the court, she could not find anything in the constitution that forbade the execution of minors. -
Aftermath
One place this ruling affected immediately was in Virginia, where Lee Boyd Malvo became ineligible for the death penalty because he was 17 years old at the time of his crimes. Other juveniles on death row could not be executed. -
Graham v Florida
This case is similiar to Roper v Simmons and probably could not have been argued as well without Roper v Simmons. This 2010 case prohibited life sentences without parole for juveniles for crimes that are no homicides.