Thompson v. Oklahoma was a case involving a fifteen-year-old petitioner convicted of first-degree murder. Thompson had taken part in a brutal murder, and as a matter of the law, the district attorney sought to have him tried as an adult. The trial court granted the request and Thompson was tried and sentenced to death. The court of criminal appeals affirmed the decision of the lower court. The Supreme Court granted the petitioner certiorari (Steverson, 2013). The court was faced with the question of whether executing a 15-year old violated the eighth amendment to the constitution that prohibits cruel and unusual punishments.
The Supreme Court ruled that the eighth amendment to the constitution applied to the case because it was made applicable to the states by the fourteenth amendment. The amendment prohibits the execution of a person under the age of 16 years during the time of the offense. The Supreme Court was guided by the laws of the relevant state, especially those of the 18 states that have considered the issues of the minimum age for the imposition of the death penalty. The 18 states have uniformly mandated that a defendant must have attained the age of 16 years to face the death penalty. This fact supports the conclusion that imposing the death penalty on an 18-year old would go against the civilized standards of decency in any civilized society (Bohm, 2007).
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The opinions of professional organizations also supported the Supreme Court's conclusion, and the views of countries that share the Anglo-American culture. The court also relied on the behavior of juries based on statistics showing that no person under the age of 16 had been executed since 1948 despite the execution of those between the ages of 18 and 20 years. Considering that thousands of murder cases were tried during the period, only 5 defendants out of the 1,393 sentenced to death for willful homicide between 1982 and 1986 were under the age of 16 years (Steverson, 2013). These statistics contributed to the conclusion that imposition of the death penalty in a 16-year old is abhorrent to a civilized society.
The Supreme Court's ruling in Thompson vs. Oklahoma had significant implications on the criminal justice system. Since the death penalty acts as a deterrent against homicidal behavior, the court's decision to overturn the earlier verdict encourages homicidal behavior among young offenders. Increase in homicidal behavior has contributed to the congestion that is prevalent in the American correctional system. The decision also failed to serve the purposes of retribution and deterrence, which are the main goals of the criminal justice system. The decision has also exerted pressure on the criminal justice system in terms of the resources required to maintain juvenile offenders who have committed homicides. These offenders must be rehabilitated within the criminal justice system, which requires additional resources. The Supreme Court's decision set the stage for arguments against the imposition of the death penalty on juveniles under the age of 16 years. In 1989, the Supreme Court allowed the execution of a defendant aged 16 years and another who had committed homicide at the age of 17 years (Bohm, 2007). However, it ruled in March 2005 that the execution of offenders under the age of 18 years, during the commission of the offense, was unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court's decision was appropriate considering that imposition of the death penalty does not serve the purpose underlying the death penalty, which is to deter offenders from homicidal behaviors. Considering that juvenile offenders are a small fraction of homicidal offenders, imposing the death penalty on them does not measurably contribute to deterrence.
Secondly, imposing the death penalty on a juvenile is an unusual punishment because of less culpability compared to a similar crime committed by an adult (Steverson, 2013). Juveniles cannot be condemned to a punishment similar to that imposed on adults because they are less experienced and intelligent compared to adults. Some of them have limited education compared to adults because at the age of 15 years, most teenagers are in junior high school. Due to these factors, juveniles are less likely to assess the consequences of their actions before acting as with the case with adults. The issue of peer pressure is another factor that contributes to juvenile offenses. The behaviors of a teenager are influenced by those of his/her peers than adults. Their likelihood to act out of emotion is also a contributing factor.
Thompson's actions may have been influenced by those of the other offenders convicted in the murder case. When subjected to a society's fiduciary obligations to children and the offenders' capacity for growth, the court rendered the right decision. The cost-benefit analysis that an adult uses before making a decision is absent in a teenager. The consideration of a likelihood of execution that an adult associated with murder is nonexistent among teenagers. Similarly, the belief that the death penalty would deter a 15-year old teenager is fanciful. Therefore, executing a teenager for murder violates the eighth amendment to the constitution.
References
Bohm, R. M. ( 2007 ). Deathquest III: An introduction to the theory and practice of capital punishment in the United States . Newark, NJ : Anderson
Steverson, J. (2013). Child vs. State: Children and the Law. New York: Routledge.
