Thompson v. Oklahoma (487 U.S. 815)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 29, 1988 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 487 U.S. 815 · 108 S. Ct. 2687
- Decided
- June 29, 1988
- Term
- October Term 1987
- Vote
- 5–3
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- State/territorial law held unconstitutional
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion in which Justice Brennan, Justice Marshall, and Justice Blackmun join. Petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The principal question presented is whether the execution of that sentence would violate the constitutional prohibition against the infliction of “cruel and unusual punishments” because petitioner was only 15 years old at the time of his offense. I Because there is no claim that the punishment would be excessive if the crime had been committed by an adult, only a brief statement of facts is necessary. In concert with three older persons, petitioner actively participated in the brutal murder of his former brother-in-law in the early morning hours of January 23, 1983. The evidence disclosed that the victim had been shot twice, and that his throat, chest, and abdomen had been cut. He also had multiple bruises and a broken leg. His body had been chained to a concrete block and thrown into a river where it remained for almost four weeks. Each of the four participants was tried separately and each was sentenced to death. Because petitioner was a “child” as a matter of Oklahoma law, thé District Attorney filed a statutory petition, see Okla. Stat. , Tit. 10, § 1112(b) (1981), seeking an order finding “that said child is competent and had the mental capacity to know…
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