Roper v. Simmons

At issue in this case is whether the state may execute capital defendants who were between the ages of 16 and 18 when they committed murder. The Court upheld the constitutionality of the juvenile death penalty under these circumstances in 1989. This brief argues that not only has a constitutionally significant consensus against the juvenile death penalty developed since then, but also that imposition of the juvenile death penalty reflects and reinforces racial bias in the criminal justice system.