Treating Children like Children: Outlawing the Death Penalty to Preserve Innocence and Uphold the Constitution

I.INTRODUCTION
Imagine a world where an individuals every act and decision is evaluated, scrutinized and either approved or denied. There are rules that exist besides the governmental law and there are consequences beyond those in the law that apply to this person specifically. Furthermore, there are certain rights and privileges that do not apply to this individual. No, this is not the life of a person living in a society that follows a dictatorship or monarchy; this is the life of a child. Specifically, this is the life of a child under the age of eighteen in the United States of America. While the consequences for juveniles under eighteen may differ from state to state, the lives they lead and the limitations on their rights are similar. Therefore, it would be unjustified to uphold juveniles to the same consequences as adults who have the benefit of life experience, rights and privileges that have helped develop them into fully competent adults. It would further violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution to uphold a juvenile to the same level of culpability as an adult for a crime he could not fully understand. 

The decision in Roper has revolutionized the imposition of the death penalty for juveniles. First, this Comment will analyze the relevant facts in the case as they relate to the majority decision of the opinion. Next, the historic background and cases on the death penalty in this country will be presented. Following, an analysis will be done of the opinion in the Roper case. Last, the implications on past, present and future cases with regards to the Roper decision will be reviewed.