Abstract
This case resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that a sentence of the death penalty for someone who committed a murder under the age of 16 violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The Court reasoned that in cases where the defendant is under the age of 16, their age alone mitigates the crime. The Thompson ruling would go on to be expanded in 2005 in Roper v. Simmons to include people under 18 years old at the time of offense.
Abstract
This case resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that a sentence of the death penalty for someone who committed a murder under the age of 16 violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The Court reasoned that in cases where the defendant is under the age of 16, their age alone mitigates the crime. The Thompson ruling would go on to be expanded in 2005 in Roper v. Simmons to include people under 18 years old at the time of offense.
Summary
The Supreme Court's decision in Thompson v. Oklahoma established that imposing the death penalty on individuals who committed murder before the age of 16 constitutes a violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The Court's rationale rested on the premise that a defendant's age under 16 serves as a significant mitigating factor in such cases, effectively reducing the severity of the crime. This precedent was subsequently extended in 2005 by Roper v. Simmons, which broadened the scope of the Eighth Amendment's protection to encompass individuals under 18 years of age at the time of the offense.
Abstract
This case resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that a sentence of the death penalty for someone who committed a murder under the age of 16 violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The Court reasoned that in cases where the defendant is under the age of 16, their age alone mitigates the crime. The Thompson ruling would go on to be expanded in 2005 in Roper v. Simmons to include people under 18 years old at the time of offense.
Summary
The Supreme Court's decision in Thompson v. Oklahoma concluded that executing individuals who committed murder before their sixteenth birthday constitutes a violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The court reasoned that the defendant's age alone, in cases where they are under sixteen, mitigates the severity of the crime. This ruling was later expanded in 2005 in Roper v. Simmons to encompass individuals who were under eighteen at the time of the offense.
Abstract
This case resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that a sentence of the death penalty for someone who committed a murder under the age of 16 violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The Court reasoned that in cases where the defendant is under the age of 16, their age alone mitigates the crime. The Thompson ruling would go on to be expanded in 2005 in Roper v. Simmons to include people under 18 years old at the time of offense.
Summary
The Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to sentence someone to death for a murder committed before their 16th birthday. This decision, known as the Thompson case, is based on the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The Court argued that a person under 16 is less culpable due to their age, and therefore the death penalty is not a justifiable punishment. The Thompson ruling was later expanded in 2005 by the Roper v. Simmons case, which extended the age limit to 18 years old.
Abstract
This case resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that a sentence of the death penalty for someone who committed a murder under the age of 16 violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The Court reasoned that in cases where the defendant is under the age of 16, their age alone mitigates the crime. The Thompson ruling would go on to be expanded in 2005 in Roper v. Simmons to include people under 18 years old at the time of offense.
Summary
This case was about a man named Thompson who was sentenced to death for a murder he committed when he was 15 years old. The Supreme Court said that this sentence was wrong because it goes against the Eighth Amendment, which says that punishments can't be cruel or unusual. The Court thought that Thompson's age was a very important reason why he shouldn't be given the death penalty.
Later, in 2005, the Supreme Court said that people who were younger than 18 years old at the time of their crime could also not be sentenced to death. This means that no one in the United States can be given the death penalty if they were under 18 years old when they committed a crime.