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22 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol'y 9 (2008)
A Slower Form of Death: Implications of Roper v. Simmons for Juveniles Sentenced to life without Parole

handle is hein.journals/ndlep22 and id is 13 raw text is: ARTICLES A SLOWER FORM OF DEATH: IMPLICATIONS OF ROPER V. SIMMONS FOR JUVENILES SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE BARRY C. FELD* The Supreme Court in Roper v. Simmons' interpreted the Eighth Amendment to prohibit states from executing offenders for crimes they committed when younger than eighteen years of age. The Court relied on objective indicators of evolving stan- dards of decency, such as state statutes and jury decisions to sup- port its judgment that a national consensus existed against executing adolescents. The Justices also conducted an indepen- dent proportionality analysis of youths' criminal responsibility and concluded that their reduced culpability warranted a cate- gorical prohibition of execution. Juveniles' immature judgment, susceptibility to negative peer influences, and transitory personal- ity development diminished their criminal responsibility. Because of their reduced culpability, the Court held that they could never deserve or receive the most severe sentence imposed on adults. By contrast, the Court's non-capital proportionality jurispru- dence focuses on the seriousness of the offense, rather than the culpability of the offender, to assess whether a punishment is excessive. Focusing only on the gravity of the offense-the harm caused-precludes consideration of adolescents' diminished responsibility when they commit serious crimes for which they receive life without parole (LWOP) sentences. In many jurisdic- tions, LWOP sentences are mandatory and preclude any individ- ualized consideration of the offender. About ten times as many adolescents receive LWOP sentences every year as ever faced the * Centennial Professor of Law, University of Minnesota. B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1966; J.D., University of Minnesota Law School, 1969; Ph.D. (Sociology), Harvard University, 1973. 1. Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).

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