Intro: The case Roper v. Simmons gave an ever lasting effect on imposing capital punishment for juveniles (18 years old and younger). Simmons was 17 year old boy when he committed murder by sneaking in Shirley Cook's to commit "burglary and murder by breaking and entering, tying up a victim, and throwing the victim off a bridge." (Roper, 2005, p.1) killing Mrs. Cook. He was tried and sentenced to death when he was 18 which was 9 month later after the murder. With two similar cases taken in from the supreme court such as the Thompson v. Oklahoma and the Stanford v. Kentucky where these three cases argue if the death penalty "questioned whether the practice constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment" (Borra, 2005, p.1),
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Simmons case revolved around many cases, with contradicting points and the with the societies' ever changing views. However, the supreme court explicitly said, "that its independent judgment is essential to determine the acceptability of a particular punishment under the Eighth Amendment" (Myers, 2006, p.949) which indicts states very little power, but with the Atkins case, the states were limited on their power by not being able to enforce the death penalty on a mentally ill individual, eventually after the Atkins case came the Roper v. Simmons case causing states ever more limited power on their say with the death penalty "to continue chipping away at the role of states and juries in criminal sentencing proceedings." (Myers, 2006, …show more content…
Without stating the "Mentally retarded" as a class the Court could easily put the juveniles as under "mentally retarded" because of the cognitive similarity.
Conclusion: The Roper v. Simmons case showed the power the Supreme court has over the states and the society's influence in the case.With the ever-evolving society's points of views in certain topics, shaped the way this case and the cases before this turned out to be.With the Atkins case playing a key role into the supreme courts reason to have this case overturn the Stanford v. Kentucky
Simmons case revolved around many cases, with contradicting points and the with the societies' ever changing views. However, the supreme court explicitly said, "that its independent judgment is essential to determine the acceptability of a particular punishment under the Eighth Amendment" (Myers, 2006, p.949) which indicts states very little power, but with the Atkins case, the states were limited on their power by not being able to enforce the death penalty on a mentally ill individual, eventually after the Atkins case came the Roper v. Simmons case causing states ever more limited power on their say with the death penalty "to continue chipping away at the role of states and juries in criminal sentencing proceedings." (Myers, 2006, …show more content…
Without stating the "Mentally retarded" as a class the Court could easily put the juveniles as under "mentally retarded" because of the cognitive similarity.
Conclusion: The Roper v. Simmons case showed the power the Supreme court has over the states and the society's influence in the case.With the ever-evolving society's points of views in certain topics, shaped the way this case and the cases before this turned out to be.With the Atkins case playing a key role into the supreme courts reason to have this case overturn the Stanford v. Kentucky