Death penalty upon an individual for crimes

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Review the case of Roper v. Simmons (2005) – in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to impose the capital punishment death penalty upon an individual for crimes (including first-degree premeditated murder) that individual committed while under the age of 18.

In other words, in the briefest of terms, in Roper (2005), the Court ruled that you cannot sentence a person to death for any crime, not even first-degree premeditated murder, if they were under 18 years of age at the time they committed the crime.

Examine the facts of the Roper (2005) case — and specifically the horrific murder involved.

Question: 

  • Do you think the Supreme Court’s decision in Roper (2005) was the correct one in that specific case?
  • Do you agree with the Court’s decision in Roper (2005) in general?
  • The Roper (2005) ruling is settled law at this point in time —- but do you think the Court’s ruling should/should not apply to individuals under the age of 18 who commit school shootings or other types of mass-murder events?