Juvenile death penalty outlawed.

Juveniles who commit horrendous crimes before the age of 18 will no longer be subject to the death penalty. So said the United States Supreme Court in a hotly debated 5-4 decision last month. The decision will affect 72 juvenile prisoners in 12 states who were found guilty of capital (punishable by death) crimes. They will be moved off death row and given life sentences without parole.

The case before the Court, Roper v. Simmons, involved a young man named Christopher Simmons, who committed a murder in 1993 at age 17. Simmons was at first sentenced by a Missouri court to death. A later court changed the sentence to life without parole. It was that decision that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, in writing the majority opinion, gave several reasons for the Court's decision. Chiefly, he cited "a lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility" among teens. These qualities often cause juveniles to make "impetuous [hasty] and ill-considered actions and decisions," the Justice wrote.

"The age of 18 is the point where society draws the line for many purposes between childhood and adulthood," he continued. "It is, we conclude, the age at which the line for death eligibility ought to rest."

"Cruel and Unusual Punishment"

Justice Kennedy also cited the "evolving standards of decency" in the country regarding these executions. Thirty states have already outlawed them. Until the Court's decision, the U.S. was the only country in the world to officially authorize a juvenile death penalty.

Justice Antonin Scalia, in the minority opinion, objected strongly to the Court's decision. Describing the horrifying nature of Simmons's actions, he wrote: "Some murders are not just the acts of happy-go-lucky teenagers, but heinous [shockingly evil] crimes deserving of death."

The ruling is the latest in a long series of Court decisions that have attempted to define the country's attitude toward capital punishment. The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment," which many people have interpreted to include the death penalty. The Court's close decision indicates that the debate is sure to continue into the future.