The Louisiana Supreme Court recently decline the State’s attempts to reinstate the death penalty for a man who was convicted of murder one week shy of his 18th birthday.

The state argued that the defendant was “close enough” to 18 when he committed the crime, and that therefore he should be sentenced with the harsher penalty.

The controlling precedent, Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005), held that executing minors was unconstitutional per se under the 8th Amendments cruel and unusual punishment clause.

The main reasoning for the decision was that:

“Both objective indicia of consensus, as expressed in particular by the enactments of legislatures that have addressed the question, and the Court’s own determination in the exercise of its independent judgment, demonstrate that the death penalty is a disproportionate punishment for juveniles.”

The Court found execution particularly inappropriate due to “Juveniles’ susceptibility to immature and irresponsible behavior means “their irresponsible conduct is not as morally reprehensible as that of an adult.” Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U. S. 815, 835.

Based on reports, it seems that the Louisiana Attorney general’s main argument — aside from the defendant having been a week away from his 18th birthday at the time he committed the crime, was the belief that the Supreme Court’s decision was incorrect about the eventual execution of juvenile offenders. In other words, the State appears to have been arguing that once the defendant is an older adult, they should then be able to face the death penalty.

The State is responsible for representing the executive branch in enforcing criminal laws and ensuring that there are criminal sentencing serves to deter criminal behavior.

The lawyer representing the defendant is attempting to have his life sentence reduced in light of the fact that he was a juvenile at the time the crime was committed.

The State’s challenge is a direct result of the defendant attempting to pursue his eligibility for parole, which was granted after he had served 28 years in prison.