...Juvenile Justice course I have found some remarkable Supreme Court cases that in an essence changed the way juveniles are prosecuted today. The first case I will discuss is the Roper v. Simmon case in 1993 and the sentencing change in 2004. The second case is Yarborough v. Alvarado in 2004. I will discuss criminal justice theories that may help explain the crime. The juvenile courts and juvenile corrections prosecution and punishment of minor persons accused in each case. Also, the victims’ family’s reaction to the legislations decision to change the law in each case. This discussion should illustrate a clear picture of the importance each case played in the juvenile justice system. The Roper v. Simmons case starting...
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...Roper v. Simmons | March 4 2013 | Criminal Justice 245 | Mr. Cashdollar | Roper v. Simmons I. Introduction This paper will address the Roper v. Simmons 543 U.S551 (2005); it will specifically address the arrest, trial and the legal issues that arose. It will explain and identify the holdings of the lower courts and it will explain and identify the decision of the U.S Supreme Court. II. The Facts Christopher Simmons, who was seventeen years old, and two of his friends by the name of Charles Benjamin(fifteen years old) and John Tessmer (sixteen years old) had a detailed conversation about committing a murder. Christopher Simmons had a premeditated plan to which included, burglary (breaking and entering), robber and murder. Simmons wanted to bond and tie the victim and discard them off the bridge. Simmons convinced his two friends that they would not be convicted for these acts because they are still considered juveniles (under the age of eighteen). On September 9th at approximately 2 a.m. met up with each other to carry out Simmons plan to murder the victim. Tessmer, left the group after changing his mind, shortly after they met up. Simmons and Benjamin still decided to carry out the plan; they broke into the victim’s home by reaching through an open window and unlocking the back door. While they were in the Simmons turned on the hall light which woke up the owner. Shirley Crook asked “Who’s there?” Simmons followed the voice and went to her bedroom. Upon...
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...There have been many cases that question whether or not the execution of minors and people with special needs is cruel and unusual punishment. In the year of 1993 a seventeen year old male named Christopher Simmons was sentenced to the death penalty after committing capital murder of a young woman. The penalty was sentenced soon after he turned the age of eighteen. After a series of appeals were sent to federal and state courts the case landed at the Missouri State Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. The Missouri Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court had opposite standings on the execution of Christopher Simmons, while the Missouri Supreme Court wanted Simmons to be executed still after multiple appeals and protests went on, the U.S. Supreme...
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...cruel and unusual punishment. With that being said, this paper will discuss the constitutionality of the death penalty. Controversy over the death penalty in the U.S. Supreme Court can be traced back to 1879 with Wilkerson v. Utah, which stated that the Utah territorial statue of execution by firing squad was not cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment of the U.S. constitution. (Wikipedia: Wilkerson v. Utah) In 1972, the United States Supreme Court struck down capital punishment, reducing all death...
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...The Use of Human Dignity in Death Penalty Cases: An International perspective An examination of cases from several jurisdictions that address the legality of the death penalty reveals various uses of the notion of human dignity. In 1972, in Furman v. Georgia, the United States Supreme Court declared all existing death penalty statutes at the time unconstitutional as a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibiting "cruel and unusual punishment". There was no majority opinion, and each of the five majority members wrote a separate opinion. While three of them based their decision on the arbitrary and discriminatory application of the death penalty in the U.S., Justices Brennan and Marshall based their opinions on the per-se unconstitutionality of capital punishment. Justice Brennan argued that although human dignity is not explicitly guaranteed by the United States Constitution, it is the fundamental concept underlying the Eighth Amendment. In his opinion: "The State, even as it punishes, must treat its members with respect for their intrinsic worth as human beings. A punishment is "cruel and unusual, therefore, "if it does not comport with human dignity". He declared that the severity of capital punishment is degrading to the dignity of a man, and since even the vilest criminals share an inherent dignity, the punishment is unconstitutional. Though in Brennan words human dignity functions as a justification for the Eight Amendment, they seem to illustrate the psychological approach...
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...Review, 2005). For over one hundred years there have been adamant efforts to abolish capital punishment in America. (Davis, 1957) The death penalty has been a constant controversy amongst American citizens. There are many standpoints to be taken on the dispute. Supporters of the death penalty plead that it can be justified with sufficient due process, while others contradict that a human’s life is irreplaceable and that every person has the right to live. In order to gain a deeper understanding and a better idea of the death penalty and its development into modern day society, it is crucial to examine the historical lawsuits that have been decided in favor or against the capital punishment in America. In 1987 a monumental lawsuit hit the Supreme Court. McCleskey vs. Kemp 481 U.S. 279, (1987), ruling that McCleskey was to be sentenced to death for an armed robbery that resulted in the murder of a police officer. Appealing for his life, McCleskey argued that studies proved that racial discrimination lived with in capital punishment rulings. He heavily relied on a study conducted by Professor David C. Baldus also known as “Baldus Study”. His study concluded that black defendants were more likely to be punished with capital punishment than white defendants, especially if the victim was white. McCleskey tried to state that this proved his sentence was unconstitutional due to the Fourteenth Amendment. He also appealed that it was unconstitutional under the Eighteenth Amendment claiming that...
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...the worst possible sentence, death. The jury determined that there were aggravating factors, because of the extremely heinous crime and severity of the child’s injuries, and sentenced him to death under Louisiana’s aggravated rape statute. This statute stated that a sentence of death could be imposed for a conviction of rape of a child under the age of 12 (Cornell University Law School, 2008). Upon receiving his sentence of death, Kennedy appealed his case first to the Louisiana Supreme Court on the grounds that the death penalty was “cruel and unusual punishment” for a crime where the victim did not die (Cornell University Law School, 2008). The Louisiana Supreme Court noted two cases, Atkins v. Virginia and Roper v. Simmons. These cases were used to determine whether there was a national consensus on the punishment of death and then they were applied to determine whether the court would find the punishment excessive (The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2013). The Louisiana Supreme Court felt that the adoption of similar laws in five other states, coupled with the unique...
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...under the age of 18 to be transferred to the adult court system under the waiver provision. Even more surprisingly and depending on the jurisdiction, children as young as thirteen can find themselves in the clutches of the adult court system. Once these children enter the adult system, there is a possibility that a myriad of punishments can be received for their crimes. Of these punishments, life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) appears to be the most stringent and the hardest to swallow. According to a Juvenile Life Without Parole Fact Sheet, “A LWOP sentence is the harshest sentence given short of execution. The sentence means that an individual will not be given the opportunity for parole review and is condemned to die in prison” (Citizens for Juvenile Justice, 2008). For some, the idea of having a child spend the rest of their natural lives behind bars for capital and even noncapital crimes can be daunting and unfair. For many young people, they are at the point in their young lives where they are still trying to figure out who they are and they willingly test certain boundaries. Life in prison without parole attempts to snuff out what little life they have just begun to build. However, many would also argue that if you are capable of doing adult crimes and are willing to accept the responsibility of the crime, then you are capable of serving adult time. But with the landmark Supreme Court decision of Roper v. Simmons in 2005, the sentence of death is no longer possible...
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...ever watchful and mindful in their endeavors of delivering justice. Every day, all over US judges dispense justice to convicted persons and defendants. However, absolute justice ideally is hardly realizable across board since its effectiveness demands human infallibility. Although it might be even harder to reap justice, justice is achievable and pursuit for justice remains a noble order. In this case, a 12 years old boy, Christopher Pittman from the state of South Carolina on February 15, 2005 shot his two grandparents using his father’s shotgun while they lay on their beds, he then set the house on fire, drove his grandparents truck and fled with cash and weapons in his possession. The petitioner, Pittman was only 12 years of age when he committed this malicious acts. He was charged with premeditated murder and put on an adult court for trial. Christopher Pittman’s defense team claimed that young Christopher Pittman remained an innocent child because he still could not differentiate what was right or wrong while under influence of Zoloft, an antidepressant. The defense urged the court to consider Pitman a child thus unable to plan and execute premeditated murder as an adult will do. The defense urged the judges to consider an equivalent reaction of a juvenile actions of such magnitude by sending him to a juvenile system where he will be able to get psychiatric treatment alongside rehabilitation and not retributions. However, the prosecutor’s side argued that Christopher Pittman...
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...Facts Christopher Simmons planned and committed the murder of Shirley Crook when he was 17 years old. On September 9, 1993, Christopher and two friends (Charles Benjamin and John Tessmer) entered the house of Shirley Crook, robbed her, tired her up with duct tape, electrical cords, and then tossed her body off a bridge. Christopher began to brag about killing Shirley to his friends, that it did not take long to arrest Christopher for the murder of Shirley. Shirley’s body was found in the Meramec River by a fisherman in St. Louis with bruises and broken ribs. According to the medical examiner, the cause of death was drowning. After, being arrested he was convicted of first-degree murder. The court found him guilty of first-degree murder and...
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...harm cause when children make wrong choices by giving them a second chance. The law prohibits people under eighteen from voting, serving in the military and on juries, but in some states, they can be executed for crimes they committed before they reach adulthood. The United States Supreme Court prohibits execution for crimes committed at the age of fifteen or younger. Nineteen states have laws permitting the execution of persons who committed crimes at sixteen or seventeen. Since 1973, 226 juvenile death sentences have been imposed. Twenty-two juvenile offenders have been executed and 82 remain on death row (Juveniles and the Death Penalty). On January 27, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review whether executing sixteen and seventeen year-olds violates the Constitution’s ban on 'cruel and unusual...
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...Case Review Worksheet CJ/354 Week Two Worksheet Part I: Case Review Review the cases below by going to the “Detailed Contents” section of the Contemporary Criminal Law textbook. After reviewing the case, select the defense that was represented in the case from the following list: necessity | self-defense | defense of others | defense of home and property | resisting unlawful arrest | consent | duress | intoxication | mistake | age or infancy defense | entrapment | syndrome-based defenses | insanity defense | | | 1. Case 1: State v. Dejarlais State v. Dejarlais section in Ch. 8 of Contemporary Criminal Law Defense used: Consent 2. Case 2: Lopez v. State Lopez v. State section in Ch. 9 of Contemporary Criminal Law Defense used: Insanity Defense 3. Case 3: People v. Ceballos People v. Ceballos section in Ch. 8 of Contemporary Criminal Law Defense used: Defense of Home and Property, Necessity 4. Case 3: Brazil v. State Brazill v. State section in Ch. 9 of Contemporary Criminal Law Defense used: Age or Infancy Defense Part II: Short Answer Answer, in a minimum of 50 words, each of the following questions: 1. What is the adversarial system? The adversarial system, also known as adversary system. Many also refer to it as the legal system. They develop and present any arguments, gather, and submit any evidence they may have, as well as questioning any witnesses. Both parties are represented by attorneys...
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...Title: Roper V. Simmons Facts of the case: The respondent Simmons, at the age of 17, already had planned and committed a capital murder. When Simmons had already turned 18, he was sentenced to death. Although, when the court had already decided to execute Simmons, the court then held because due to the Eighth Amendment, through the Fourteenth Amendment, it is prohibited to execute a mentally retarded person. The Eighth Amendment says that excessive bail is not required, nor excessive fines imposed, and cruel or unusual punishments inflicted. Simmons decided to field a new petition for state postconviction relief, arguing that due to the Atkins’ reasoning that was established in the constitution do not approves the execution of a juvenile who...
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...Running head: YOUNG OFFENDERS Young Offenders Carol Welles Coker College Abstract Youth offenders are those persons charged with serious crimes who are usually under a specified age. Every nation has its own policy about dealing with young offenders. In the United States, each state has its own juvenile offender standards. The treatment of juvenile offenders in the United States has been uncertain, uneven, and controversial since colonial times. Recently the United States Supreme Court changed the juvenile justice system by declaring the frequently applied life without parole sentence to be unconstitutional. Juvenile justice systems have been forced to rethink options for punishment for youth offenders convicted of a serious crime. The juvenile justice system has developed new approaches and new methods of rehabilitating juveniles whose crimes previously may have merited the life without parole sentence. Rehabilitation through education has replaced incarceration in most newly revamped governmental policies at the state level. Several organizations in Europe and the United States have developed in the last few years devoted to liberalizing juvenile justice policies throughout the western world. The definition of a young offender is universal. A young offender is a person within a specified age range who commits a criminal offense. A variation in the specified age for a young offender is the main difference between a young offender in Abu Dhabi and a young...
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...Placing young offenders in adult prisons heightens criminal behaviors after release according to the findings. There is well founded fear that several number of young offenders slated to be placed in adult jails are more likely to be assaulted ,commit suicide and raped. Juveniles are driven to desperation and abused regularly in adult prisons because they are not specific measures to protect the young offenders from the adult prisoners. My completes work Case summary Issue Roper v. Simmons’ main issue is whether the application of Death penalty on a person who committed murder at age 17 amounts to “Cruel and Unusual” sentence and thereby barred by the 8th and 14th Amendments (Dinkes, et al 2009) Facts The Supreme Court of the United States initiated a review of the case against Christopher Simmons to determine whether death penalty was allowed by constitution for persons under the age of 18 at the time of crime commission. The case concerned Christopher Simmons arrested at the age of 17 for Shirley Crook’s murder. Simmons had been found of a first-degree murder and had subsequently been...
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