Thompson v. Oklahoma

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Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815 (1988)^[1], 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."

William W. Thompson, a 15 year-old at the time of his crime, was tried as an adult for murder, found guilty, and sentenced to death in an Oklahoma trial court. The Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma upheld the decision.

On appeal, the Supreme Court held in a 5-3 decision that the execution of a minor under the age of 16 violated the Eighth Amendment as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court noted the "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" as a primary concern. Numerous U.S. jurisdictions and all industrialized Western nations had banned the execution of minors under 16 years of age. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the dissent, and Anthony Kennedy took no part in the decision.