Jesy Munoz

Period 3
5/9/2016

Key Points from Roper v. Simmons case assignment

From the Roper case, Anthony Kennedy makes some well argued points on why we
shouldnt be able to execute juveniles under the age of 18 and that 18 should be the age set on
either a juvenile can be tried for the death penalty. While Antonin Scalia argued that the rules for
juveniles being given the death penalty should not be changed, and as well he gives some good
reasons why the rules shouldnt be changed, but inevitably Kennedy ends up winning the case.
One of the first key points that Justice Kennedy brings up is that the death penalty goes
against the 8th, which applies to all states, and the 14th amendment, which prohibits cruel and
unusual punishments. In this, he bring up the Arkins case saying how that was set to creating a
categorical rule,where we first examine the indicia of consensus, and secondly exercise our own
judgement whether the death penalty is a disproportional punishment for juveniles. Now we
must improve on the standards set in those rules. As kennedy objects to the consensus that the
death penalty is a cruel and unusual punishment, backing up his claim that already 30 states
prohibit the juvenile death penalty, comprised of 12 states that had already rejected the death
penalty and the added 18 states, that still maintain the death penalty, but now keep it by a
judicial interpretation that excludes juveniles from its reach. Even the 20 states that do keep the
death penalty for juveniles, have used it very infrequently. As kennedy states Since stanford six
states have executed prisoners for crimes committed as juveniles and in the past 10 years only
three have done so. also stating that even the defendant himself in stanford was not executed
but commuted by the state.
Though Justice Scalia argues a different point of view from that fact that the 20 states
infrequently allowing juveniles to receive the death penalty is actually proof that the death
penalty for juveniles from age 16 is working, since allowing juveniles to be able to receive the
death penalty at that age would cause more jurors to take case by case more seriously and truly

Jesy Munoz
Period 3
5/9/2016
consider the option of whether the juvenile truly deserves to receive the death penalty. He also
argues that the maturity of a person is not an average age set but specialized and based on the
individual. So when a person commits a heinous crime, that juvenile cannot be expelled from
being tried with a death penalty just because he was under the age of 18, because there are
some kids who will reach a maturity some adults never will, and vice versa.
Even though Scalia made good points in the end Justice Kennedy won the case and the
age for juveniles had to be to receive the death penalty was set to the age of 18.