United States Supreme Court Overturns Death Penalty for Juvenile Defendants

On March 1, 2005, the United States Supreme Court held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution forbid imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were under the age of 18 years when their crimes were committed. The case is Roper, Superintendent, Potosi Correctional Center v. Simmons, certiorari to the Supreme Court of Missouri, No. 03-633, Argued October 13, 2004, Decided March 1, 2005. The decision affects the Virginia case of Lee Boyd Malvo. The full opinion may be found at: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=c ase&vol=000&invol=03-633.