The court case Roper v. Simmons was a case that questioned whether or not the execution of a juvenile violated the Constitution. This case began in 2002 and was appealed and decided in 2005. This was a Missouri case that involved Christopher Simmons, who at the time was only seventeen years old. As a punishment for a crime that he committed, Simmons was given the death penalty. Simmons tried many times to appeal his case and avoid being executed. His appeal was granted after the supreme court made a decision regarding the case Atkins v. Virginia. The case Atkins v. Virginia stated that the execution of people who suffer from mental retardation is not only a violation of the 8th and 14th amendments but is also unconstitutional. The Supreme
Case Citation: DICKENS BY DICKENS v. JOHNSON COUNTY BD. OF EDUC. NO. CIV-2-86-91. 1.Facts:
The trial court’s decision for the Bush v. Schiavo case was made in accordance with the procedures and protections that are set forth by the judicial branch in accordance with the statutes passed by the Legislature at that time. The Legislature is able to enact laws to protect those citizens who are incapable of protecting their own interests however such laws must comply with the constitution. In this case it is a violation of the separation of powers between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. This Act that was passed is unconstitutional because Theresa Schiavo is in a permanent vegetative state and the decision that is being made needs to be in her best interest since she is unable to make the decision for herself. The decision that was made was final and it was unconstitutional for the Legislature to attempt to alter the final decision that applied to Theresa
Was this an issue over Dr Glucksberg bringing suit in federal district court seeking a declaration that the Washington state law violated a liberty interest protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The case was heard by the United States Supreme Court. 5. Ruling and Reasoning Chief Justice Rehnquist was the judge who wrote the majority opinion for the court. He reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that a ban on physician-assisted suicide symbolized
Name of Case: LaChance vs. Erickson Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court Parties and their roles:. LaChance, director, Office of Personnel Management petitioner; Erickson et al Responded Relevant facts: Federal employees made false statements to agency investigators with respect to their misbehavior. The legal issue(s) raised: The legal issue raised was that the respondents, federal employees were charged by their agencies because each of them made false statements to the agency investigators with respect to their misconduct.
Roper V Simmions, Falls under the 8th amendment cruel and unusual punishment. In Roper V Simmions there was a 17 year old boy with a mental disabitliy who commited a premediated murder was orginally being tried for the death penalty. In this case however there was another individual who did assist in the murder. He wasnt declared “mentally fit” for the trial but some felt his crimes were heneous enough to warrent the death penalty.
Kaylee Woolery Mr. O’Rourke Political Issues Tuesday, April 18th Supreme Court Opinion In 1989 the case of Roper vs. Simmons, the US Supreme Court opposed the death sentence and decided against the death penalty for anyone younger than 18. They argued that his 8th amendment rights were being infringed resulting in cruel and unusual punishment for the execution of a minor. Christopher Simmons, a 17-year-old, was arrested and put on trial for the first-degree murder of Shirley Crook. Due to the fact that it was first-degree murder, he was sentenced to death.
The United States Supreme Court case Stanford vs. Kentucky was a national debate that permitted the hypocrisy of the death penalty, which at the time stated that all offenders who were of the age sixteen years or older at the time of their crime would receive the punishment of execution. The case took place on the day of March 27, 1989, and was officially decided on June 26, 1989. The argument began when Kevin Stanford, who was seventeen years old at the time, shot and killed twenty year old Barbel Poore on January 7, 1981. Stanford’s was trialed as an adult and was convicted of murder, first-degree robbery, and first-degree sodomy, and as a result received 45 years in prison as a punishment. Stanford declared that “he has the constitutional
On November 21, 1973, Troy Leon Gregg and his companion robbed and murdered Fred Edward Simmons and Bob Durwood Moore, two innocent people who were giving them rides. Gregg was convicted for his actions and was given the death penalty. He argued that the sentence was violating his eighth amendment which is “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (U.S. Const. amend. VIII.)
In Roper v. Simmons there are two issues that must be addressed, the first being the issue of moral maturity and culpability. The defense in the trial phase of this case argued that Mr. Simmons was an at an age where he was not responsible enough to fully understand the effects and consequences of his actions. The majority draws on Atkins v. Virginia to argue that this specific precedent supports their case that the death penalty should not be imposed on the mentally immature or impaired. However, an important point to be made is that the Atkins v. Virginia decision is geared towards the clinical definition of mental retardation: significant limitations that limit adaptive skills. Also, another important question to consider is the competency and premeditation of Mr. Simmons’ crime in this case.
On April 25th, 1980 Bobby James Moore and two accomplices robbed a grocery store in Houston, Texas. During the robbery, Moore shot and killed the store clerk, a 76-year-old man named James McCarble and was consequently convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Moore appealed in both state and federal habeas relief courts and was granted relief by a federal court in the Fifth Circuit after arguing that precedent established in Atkins v. Virginia applied to his case. The habeas court granted relief based on the Atkins argument but the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, reversed the ruling stating that Moore was not intellectually disabled based on Ex Parte Briseno and a 1992 definition of intellectual disability. In 2014 Moore filed a writ of certiorari arguing that his constitutional rights have been violated within his 8th Amendment protection against “cruel and unusual punishment” and in combination with the 14th Amendment’s due process clause which he believes to have been violated due to the delay of his sentencing, having lasted
The aftermath of the Branzburg v. Hayes trial brought a colorful range of opinions from the mass. One example is from a First Amendment attorney, James Goodale who defended Earl Caldwell at the time of his trial. When asked to describe the outcome of case he stated, “There was no reporter’s privilege in the federal courts… I just wasn’t going to buy that argument. […] I will argue that those five votes create a reporter’s privilege […] Our theory was, and is still to go back and fight this thing out state by state by state by state until we end up with enough body of law so that there’s protection for reporters.”
The court case I have selected is the Roper vs. Simmons case. Christopher Simmons (17) came up with the idea to murder Shirley Cook. Simmons brought this brought this idea to his two friends Charles Benjamin (15) and John Tessmer (16) and
The eighth amendment is a protection for American citizens against “cruel and unusual punishment” and “excessive bail”. Roper v Simmons also violates the fourteenth amendment which addresses rights and citizenship, this became another hurdle in the case. The fourteenth amendment states “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” , in Roper v Simmons the Missouri Supreme Court was close to depriving Christopher Simmons of his life. Since Roper V Simmons states have reevaluated their minimum age for death penalty, 30 states do not even have a death penalty or capital punishment anymore. Cornell Law has also argued that because of Simmons’s age he was mentally incompetent, at the age at 17 Simmons is not eligible to “drink, serve on juries or even see certain movies…” , this was very intimidating and scary to Simmons’s prosecutor.
In the United States 1,625 cases has been wrongfully convicted, for crimes they haven’t done nor have any connections to it. Sedrick Courtney’s is a prime example of wrongfully convicted people. The Case of Sedrick Courtney is form to show how our criminal justice system is corrupt. Sedrick Courtney was wrongfully convicted for the robbery on Shemita Greer in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Scopes Monkey trial was one the biggest and most influential court cases of all time. John Scopes was a public high school teacher in dayton tennessee who was arrested and tried for breaking the butlers law. Passed in 1925 it made teaching evolution in any schools and colleges in the state of Tennessee illegal. This was because evolution challenges the idea of creationism which was the popular religion in the tennessee. this was a huge problem because it was written in the constitution that you must separate church and state.