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Constitutional Law Keyed to Choper
Roper v. Simmons
Citation:
543 U.S. 551 (2005)Facts
In 1993, at age 17, Christopher Simmons planned to commit a murder with two friends, telling them they could “get away with it” because they were minors. Simmons and one accomplice broke into Shirley Crook’s home at night, bound her with duct tape, drove her to a state park, and threw her from a railroad trestle into the Meramec River, where she drowned. Simmons later bragged about the killing. After turning 18, he was tried as an adult, convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to death. During the penalty phase, the prosecution argued Simmons’ youth was aggravating rather than mitigating. Following the Supreme Court’s 2002 decision in Atkins v. Virginia (prohibiting execution of mentally retarded persons), Simmons filed a new petition arguing that the reasoning in Atkins should extend to juvenile offenders. The Missouri Supreme Court agreed and resentenced him to life imprisonment without parole. The state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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