Lower Court Holding
Decision of the Supreme Court of Missouri
Christopher Simmons was sentenced to death for a murder he committed when he was 17 years old. He argues that to execute him for a crime committed when he was under 18 constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.In Thompson v. Oklahoma (1988), the Supreme Court of the United States held that it constituted cruel and unusual punishment to execute persons who were 15 years of age or younger at the time of their offense. The following year, in Stanford v. Kentucky (1989), the Supreme Court held that there was not then a national consensus against the execution of those who were…
