Thompson v. Oklahoma

Thompson v. Oklahoma
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued November 9, 1987
Decided June 29, 1988
Full case nameWilliam Wayne Thompson v. State of Oklahoma
Citations487 U.S. 815 (more)
108 S. Ct. 2687; 101 L. Ed. 2d 702; 1988 U.S. LEXIS 3028; 56 U.S.L.W. 4892
Case history
PriorDefendant tried as an adult and convicted of murder of his brother-in-law, who had been abusing his ex-wife, who was Thompson's sister; was found guilty; and was sentenced to death. Appealed to Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, decision affirmed, 1986 OK CR 130, 724 P.2d 780. Appealed to U.S. Supreme Court, granted writ of certiorari, 479 U.S. 1084 (1987).
Holding
The Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were under the age of 16 when their crimes were committed.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
Case opinions
PluralityStevens, joined by Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun
ConcurrenceO'Connor
DissentScalia, joined by Rehnquist, White
Kennedy took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. VIII, XIV

Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815 (1988), was the first case since the moratorium on capital punishment was lifted in the United States in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of a minor on grounds of "cruel and unusual punishment."[1] The holding in Thompson was expanded on by Roper v. Simmons (2005), where the Supreme Court extended the "evolving standards" rationale to those under 18 years old.[2]

  1. ^ Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815 (1988).
  2. ^ Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).