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Under Eighteen: Applying The Classification Of Juveniles As Inherently Less Mature Than Adults In Roper V. Simmons To Laws Restricting The, Dari Yudkoff

Dari Yudkoff

This casenote analyzes the potential effects of the Supreme Court’s holding in the juvenile death penalty case Roper v. Simmons on laws governing minors seeking abortions. In Roper, the Court instituted a bright line rule that minors under the age of eighteen are not eligible for the death penalty, because they inherently immature. The Court explains that minors are not capable of fully understanding the consequences of their actions, and therefore the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. While this law protects the rights of juveniles accused of murder, the same reasoning would severely limit the rights of minors …