2. Roper vs. Simmons – Setting
• In 1993, some of the headlines that gripped the nation included:
The World Trade Center
in New York was
damaged by a bomb
Michael Jordan retired for the 1st time
Standoff at the Branch Davidian compound
in Waco, TX ended in tragedy
The Bobbitt name became synonymous
with a particular kind of crime
The North American Free Trade
Agreement was ratified
Jurassic Park was the year’s
top grossing movie
Whitney Houston’s “I Will
Always Love You” was the
year’s top song
3. Roper vs. Simmons – The Case (intro)
• In September, 1993, Shirley Crook was murdered.
• The murderers were children when the crime was
committed.
• The morality concern of the state killing children
lead to this case being escalated to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
• The American Psychological Association submitted a
brief regarding the psychological and neurological
implications of the state killing children.
4. Roper vs. Simmons – The Case (facts)
• September 8, 1993, three children, Christopher
Simmons (17), John Tessmer (16), and Charlie Benjamin
(15), met up to plan a home invasion which they
expected to include assault, kidnapping, and murder.
5. Roper vs. Simmons – The Case (facts, cont.)
• Tessmer (16) left the group.
• Simmons and Benjamin continued to the Crook’s
home.
• Finding and open back window, the pair entered
the home.
6. Roper vs. Simmons – The Case (facts, cont.)
• Simmons and Benjamin tied Crook up with an electrical
cord, duct tape, a robe belt, and a towel.
• They transported the victim in her van to a railroad
bridge.
7. Roper vs. Simmons – The Case (facts, cont.)
• Simmons and Benjamin then, as discussed prior
to the events of the evening, threw Crook from
the bridge.
• Crook survived the fall but, due to her bindings,
drowned in the water below.
8. Roper vs. Simmons – The Case (verdict)
• Simmons was tried as an adult, found guilty, and
sentenced to death for the grisly murder.
9. Roper vs. Simmons – The Case (appeal)
• The sentence of death was appealed to the Missouri Supreme
Court, who found executing children against the moral principles
of the state.
• The Missouri Supreme Court sentenced Simmons to life in prison
without parole.
10. Roper vs. Simmons – The Case (appeal)
• Roper refers to prison superintendant, Donald P. Roper,
introduced as the complaining party to the appeal.
• The State of Missouri, holding that the original sentence of death
was constitutional for the state and the country, appealed the
Missouri Supreme Court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
11. Roper vs. Simmons – APA Brief
The APA presented a brief crafted on the basis of
two key factors:
1. The Supreme Court held in Atkins v. Virginia, 536
U.S. 304, 319 that the purpose of the death penalty
must be “retribution and deterrence of capital
crimes.”
2. Neurological and psychological science, as
supported by peer reviewed testing and research,
indicates that children lack the capacity to see
execution as a reasonable deterrent.
12. Roper vs. Simmons – APA Brief (cont.)
• According to MRI evidence, gray matter necessary for executive
brain function peaks around the age of twenty (Gogtay, et al., 2004).
• Even one to two years prior to this peak, evidence shows that
children are unlikely to be capable of full controlling or
understanding the consequences of certain impulsive behavior.
13. Roper vs. Simmons – APA Brief (cont.)
• Juveniles, as a result of developmental processes, are significantly
more likely to commit violent crimes (“Brief for Simmons…,” 2005).
• This significantly higher rate of violent crimes indicates the
inherent and uncontrollable nature of certain criminal impulses as
a direct function of the age of the subject.
14. Roper vs. Simmons – APA Brief (cont.)
• Research shows that juveniles lack sufficient capacity to
foresee and react to the consequences of their actions
(Nurmi, 1991).
• Setting a precedent of trying juveniles as adults for
violent crimes does not reduce the number of violent
crimes committed by juveniles (Benjamin & Wright, 2006).
15. Roper vs. Simmons – APA Brief (conclusion)
• Since a child is unable to understand the consequences of his actions due to
developmental immaturity, excessive punishment for those actions is cruel and
unusual.
• Since a child is unable to control his actions that lead to criminality, excessive
punishment for those actions is cruel and unusual.
• Since the potential for more severe punishment does not reduce the likelihood
of a child committing a crime, the punishment fails to meet the standards of
reason and is thus cruel and unusual.
• The 8th amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits the infliction of
cruel and unusual punishment.
• Therefore, the court should uphold the appellate
decision to overturn the sentence of death in this
case.
16. Roper vs. Simmons – Opinion
• Concurring with and citing advice from the APA, the majority
opinion held that:
– A juvenile’s susceptibility to impulsive and irresponsible behavior makes
the resulting action less reprehensible than the same actions by an adult.
– Juveniles have a basic lack of control of surroundings and can thus be
forgiven for not evacuating surroundings to escape negative influences.
– Since juveniles are actively developing their personality and identity, even
heinous crimes are not necessarily evidence of irreparable depravity.
– Based on their lack of capacity, the execution of juveniles would serve
neither as retribution nor as deterrence for future crimes.
17. Roper vs. Simmons – Opinion (cont.)
• The minority opinion, neither addressing nor contradicting the
APA premise, held that:
– The court is not the appropriate body for dictating a national standard of
morality, such as a concrete age below which execution is not acceptable.
– It is not reasonable to conclude that because all juveniles at certain ages
are not capable of sufficiently advanced reasoning to be punished by
execution that no juveniles of those ages are capable of such reasoning.
18. Roper vs. Simmons – Conclusion
• This ruling, which showed reliance on scientific evidence provided
by the American Psychological Association, established a national
standard for all courts.
• Effectively, no person can be sentenced to be executed for crimes
committed when the perpetrator was under the age of eighteen.
19. Roper vs. Simmons – References
Benjamin, S. & Wright, E. (2006). Assessing the relative effects of state direct file waiver laws on violent
juvenile crime: Deterrence or irrelevance? Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 96(4), 1451-
1477.
Brief for Simmons as Amici Curiae Supporting Respondent, Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005) (no.
03-633), 2005.
Gogtay, N. (2004). Dynamic mapping of human cortical development during childhood through early
adulthood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,
101(21), 8174-8179.
Nurmi, J. E. (1991). How do adolescents see their future? A review of the development of future
orientation and planning. Developmental Review, 11(1), 1-59.
