Thompson v. Oklahoma

Background

A 15-year-old Oklahoma boy was tried for first-degree murder after a court decided he should be treated as an adult. He participated with others in a brutal killing; prosecutors used grisly photos and the jury found the murder "especially heinous." The jury sentenced him to death and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed.

Reasoning

The Court asked whether it is cruel and unusual to execute someone who was under 16 when the crime occurred. The majority reviewed how legislatures, juries, professional groups, and statistics treat young teenagers. It found that many States and legal organizations oppose juvenile executions, that execution of under-16 offenders is rare, and that teenagers are generally less mature, less blameworthy, and less deterred by the threat of death. For those reasons the Court concluded the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments bar executing anyone under 16 and ordered the death sentence vacated. The Court did not decide the separate question about the photographs because its ruling made that unnecessary.

Real world impact

The decision prevents states from carrying out executions of people who were under 16 at the time of their crimes. Death sentences already imposed on such offenders must be vacated and replaced with other punishments. States can still try serious juvenile cases in adult courts, but they cannot impose death on offenders younger than 16.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice O'Connor agreed the sentence should be overturned but on narrower statutory grounds, wanting clearer legislative evidence before a broad constitutional rule. Justice Scalia dissented, arguing no national consensus bars executing tried adults and that the jury verdict should stand.