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Roper V. Simmons Case Study

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Roper v. Simmons was a Supreme Court case that occurred in 2004. The case was deciding whether or not minors over the age of fifteen were allowed to be sentenced to death. Christopher Simmons was given the death sentence at seventeen years old. He felt that he should not have been given the death penalty because he was not yet an adult. Simmons said that this was violating his Eighth Amendment rights. The Roper v Simmons case is an example of the way that laws can change over time.
In 1993, seventeen year old Christopher Simmons murdered Shirley Crook. Simmons and two of his friends broke into Crook’s house, tied her up, and robbed her. They then proceeded to drive to a bridge that they soon threw her off of. He told all of his friends at school and bragged about how he killed someone. The day after, he was arrested and confessed to the murder of Shirley Cook. Simmons was charged with stealing, burglary, kidnapping, and murder …show more content…

The defense counsel listed a few things that minors can’t do because of their age. That includes things like seeing some movies and drinking alcohol. If he’s not responsible or old enough to do those small things, he shouldn’t be sentenced to death. The prosecutor responded with “Age, he says. Think about age. Seventeen years old. Isn’t that scary? Doesn’t that scare you? Mitigating? Quite the contrary I submit. Quite the contrary” (Donald P. Roper).I believe he means that if a minor is capable of committing murder, they should be able to receive a consequence such as the death penalty. With recommendation from the jury, the trial judge sentenced Simmons to the death penalty. Simmons and the defense council felt that him being sentenced to death violated the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments

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