In 1993 two minors had committed burglary, and murder. The minors names are Christopher Simmons age of 17, and Charles Benjamin age of 15. The victim was a neighbor of Christopher Simmons. Her name is Shirley Crook age of 46. Christopher Simmons and Charles Benjamin had tied up Shirley Crook to the chair and thrown her in the St. Louis Meramec river. Drowning her at the age of 46 . Christopher simmons primarily had been trialed in the District Court of St. Louis in the same year of the crime which was 1993.
The District Court of St. Louis had sentenced Christopher Simmons to death row. After the sentence Christopher Simmons had several appeals to the federal courts that had been rejected numerous of times. In 2002 the Supreme Court of Missouri had finally reviewed the case of Christopher Simmons. The Supreme Court of Missouri had stayed the death sentence primarily, finding the punishment completely normal. After the court had stayed the sentence; Christopher Simmons attorney had filed an international consensus about how death sentencing to a minor would be unconstitutional.
Showing that an overwhelming amount of americans had showed that it is unconstitutional sentencing death to a minor. With the consensus, Christopher Simmons and his attorney had brought up “ Atkins V. Virginia” Which had to do with execution of someone with mental retardation. Claiming that Christopher Simmons’s brain was not fully developed, so his mind was easily influenced and was not responsible for his actions. The Supreme Court of Missouri had resentenced Christopher Simmons to life in jail without a chance of parole. Using the reasoning that the case of Atkins V.
Virginia, and seeing that an overwhelming amount of americans had agreed that sending a minor to death was unconstitutional had influenced their decision greatly. It was a a 5-4 decision presented by justice Anthony Kennedy. Other Justices agreed that the ruling was unconstitutional which were justices Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer. All other justices of the court had dissented which were justices Rehnquist, O’Connor, Scalia, and justice Thomas. The most important part of this article in “oyez” on the case Roper v. Simmons is that the information being given is very specific.
The dates, the court process, and what the justices have to say is being provided also. Oyez even has a column where you can hear the actual court case that has been recorded at the time. This article has to do with the case because this site is meant to give you reviews and summaries on many, many court cases that had happened throughout history. Minor cases. District court cases, supreme court cases, and cases that had made a major change in American history, or a change of how the American court system will view or carry out future cases.
This source had helped me prove my point by the article having all the minor details, but not having any counter arguments by the court showing that the sentence was constitutional. I said that Christopher Simmons had deserved the death sentence but the rest of the court justices had decided that the should just dissent on the 5-4 decision. It mainly supports my view on the case by showing everything but the counter argument leaving many holes into the argument on how Christopher Simmons had deserved the punishment of being sentenced to death in 1993 in the Missouri Supreme Court.
It has holes in the case by not showing every single detail it should have, yes it does have many details but as other sources have more, this source was easily picked apart. This source did good on showing how many holes were in it when I was trying to prove my point of how the death sentence that had been given to Christopher Simmons was completely appropriate and reasonable for the crime of capital murder to poor old neighbor Shirley Crook. That’s how the website “ oyez “ had helped me alot with proving my point also, starting the foundation on my presentation and essay in the aspect of researching.
Originally my first article I had to read and it was reliable source being presented to me and my situation. That’s one of the sources I used to research Roper v. Simmons and the first. The importance to this article was significantly important. The articles was important mainly because of the fact that it had all the factors of the case of Roper V. Simmons. The main important parts are the organization of information being presented to me. They have the summary, the opposing sides opinion and a backbone for the opinion of Christopher v. Simmons.
Another great aspect of this site is that it allows you to access more information on the website through links, pictures, and threads. Having the continuous amount of information means this source was very significant. The source was “ apa. org “and this was the second article I had used. How my source had court case; Roper v. Simmons; it had every single aspect you could think of. Except for minor details that wouldn’t even mean anything significant if involved in the case. Includes of the “ Missouri Psychological association “ had taken the part of how Christopher Simmons should not be executed.
Listing all of the facts that were being presented in the case from both the Court and Christopher Simmons, with his attorney. Including the fact that after this landmark case was decided there were others who had been affected in a good way. After Christopher Simmons had gotten resentenced to life in jail; seventy-two other execution to minors related cases had been released. This site did not give me as much support on how I had viewed the case or become the backbone of how I felt. It listed how everyone else felt except for the Lower District Court of Missouri.
It gave me a lot more information about my case so that it could help me prove my argument and that my stance on the court case was right. The article was unbiased so it was just a more in depth version of the case. Listing the positions the the apa had taken and how the international consensus said i could easily come up with a counter arguments. Yes it did say his brain wasn’t fully developed, but he made the plans, controlled other people, and did the crime. Another source that I had used is called “Capitalpunishmwentcontext. org”.
The most important part to this source was how the information was formatted and separated. It had down the Facts, the procedural process, the issue why it was being brought to the court, and lastly having the final result made by the Supreme Court of Missouri. Had why it was unconstitutional to put a minor to execution by the eighth and fourteenth amendment. Outcomes to the case which explains how Christopher Simmons had received life in jail without chance of parole instead of being sentenced to execution.
The source was connected to the case because it had when, how , what happened, and why Roper v. Simmons had happened. It has why Christopher Roper had found it unconstitutional,along with other thousand of americans. This article does not have every single detail, barely has any sort of detail. It just bluntly tells you about the case, what happened before the trial, in the trial, and what happened after the trial. Very blunt information about the court case of Roper v. Simmons. The sections were very short compared to the others I had used for this essay. The main information is down so everything you’d need would be there if looking for just the main facts.
That’s how this source connects with my case. This source only helps out with my stance on how I feel about Christopher Simmons being executed. Which is the opposite of what had happened in the final ruling. It let me know how dangerous that if the court rules over another court’s decisions, the courts could easily change each other’s ruling; having no higher court. It made me focus more on the main information rather than focusing on the details. Having more of a counter argument for the main points, setting aside the minor details on what have happened.
That’s how this particular article had assisted me on trying to prove my argument and my stance on the case. The importance of this articles is very significant to my court case. Its called “soapboxie. com” and it has to do with the pros and cons of executions around the world. It has the pros, and cons of what people see as executions. It has various cases of executions of men and women. Listing many opinions of people from the United States and out of the United States. It list the states that allow people to be sentenced to death. Also supplies videos of other people’s opinions, and facts provided from the government.
The last important part of this article is that people participate in a poll count online, whether it’s con or pro. Connecting the source to my case Roper v. Simmons, it has to do with how states feel about executions,and the procedures that’s needed to carry out executions. With the Roper v. Simmons case; it’s all about minors being executed. This page has mostly been about opinions; except for the quotes and the actual facts. The articles say that it’d be a lot safer with all of these people off the street because of what they’ve done. That’s connected to my case because of the consensus that Simmons’s attorney had filed.
Providing facts and opinions from thousands of americans, and natives to other countries. This article that I have is really good on supporting my view and what I think should’ve happened. It talks about how americans think now and how they thought back then about death sentencing. Most of the people inside of the article agree with me about how I feel about executions, but not exactly about execution of a minor. Showing that I think that if you’re a minor and should be treated than any other murderer in the United States this article is perfect for how what side I’m leaning on.
They feel as if these people are dangerous, and finding it a humane punishment for people that have murdered someone. This is how this article supports my stance on the case of Roper v. Simmons. There are many important parts to this article. This article comes from “jaapl. org” which is an article page about American journals that keeps up with everything related to the law. It has an abstract page where it shows every single detail of the people who were involved in the crime. It shows the case backround, how the case was decided and where the case was decided.
Also this article contains who in the court had agreed that the execution of a minor was unconstitutional and list who in the court had dissented from the court case. It has a discussion section where the justices were discussing about the case on what they thought. The article has to do with my case because its a background information about the case that I am writing for this essay. It also connects with my case by having the opinions of the justices that have opposed the the ruling of the court, and from the consensus that had people think otherwise from the final verdict.
Mainly this page is an information page but contains opinions, facts, and old statements made from other court cases that help decide the final ruling. That’s how this particular source connects to my court case Roper v. Simmons. This article supports my point of view by having the other opinions made by the justices and americans from the census. I had used all the morale reasonings and factual reasoning to assist my how to claim my stance even better. Most websites would supply you with just the facts of the case.
Since this website had pros, cons, and the facts it was perfect for supporting my opinion on how christopher simmons shouldn’t have had been imprisoned for life without any chance of parole. So from taking in all the opinions that the visitors from the site had, and putting together the facts from the court case I had put together more information on my presentation. Showing that the young man had contemplated on the crime, and orchestrated the whole thing. That contradicts on what Christopher Simmons and his attorney were trying to plead.
That Christopher Simmons wasn’t fully developed in the head, while he was being influenced. That’s how one of six sources had helped me stand tall on what side of the case I had stood on. There are many important factors to this article that are very important for my case. The parts include the history of underaged executions, personal feeling about underaged executions, and the reason why they were all treated the same as normal adults. It includes the states that agreed or disagreed with such a punishment. This article is an informative page about the execution process in general.
It shows me why and how the execution process was legal back then and how it’s illegal now. Those are the most important informative factors that are being shown to me in this article. This article connects to my case “ Roper v. Simmons” for numerous reasons. It tells me the main reason why it’s illegal till this day is that the brain isn’t fully developed and those who are so young cannot be responsible for their actions. That’s exactly what Christopher Simmons attorney had said to the Supreme Court of Missouri and included that inside of the international consensus that Simmons’s attorney had filed.
Also it include the reliance on Atkins V. Virginia, because the execution of someone with mental retardism in unconstitutional in the eighth amendment. That’s how this article comes in correlation with the case that I have which is Roper V. Simmons. This article helped me out the most when it came to supporting my stance on Roper V. Simmons. It listed all the reasons why it should still be legal, but also does informs you of the law and why the law was made for prohibiting the executions of minors. It says “ a child under the age of seven, knoweth no evil.
I completely agree with that because we’ve never seen a child who had been sentenced to death for killing, or even killing in general. Mostly throughout the eighteenth century is when it was okay, because everyone was treated equally. It does tell you that every child or minor under the age of eighteen is not equivalent to one whose diagnosed with retardation. My opinion stands with Christopher Simmons should’ve been executed. The fact that he tried using the same reasoning that they had used with Atkins V. VA, but was months away from being eighteen is despicable.
His attorney says that his brain was never fully developed when he was a minor is completely ridiculous because he was the one who had orchestrated the burglary and the murder, while he had guided Charles Benjamin of age 15. I honestly believe that Christopher Simmons of age 17 at the time of the burglary and murder; that he had complete control of what he was doing and who he was orchestrating. Many of minors had been executed in the past for simply the reasons that they were killers, a hazard to the past society and even a danger to the modern society.
Of course receiving a type of punishment that would keep them from society doesn’t exactly eliminate the factors of the murderers coming back into society and cause a havoc. Personally as a person I feel deep down that everyone else who isn’t diagnosed with mental retardation is responsible for their actions. With many successful actors, singers, painters, entrepreneurs, make their everyday decisions by themselves to get to they are today. Giving the fact that unless you need help mentally, everyone should be in control of their actions, and control who you associate yourself with.
I personally wouldn’t ever try to do that when I was younger, nor if I’m older as in right now. He had motives, he had planned it out for months, and he even knew people who’d assist him with such crime. Yes there are facts that show that the male brain is more likely to be persuaded and being taken advantage of in these type of situations, but no one has been taking advantage of Christopher Simmons nor forcing him to do anything. This is all on his personal opinions, morales, logic, and his own mindset. That is why I think that Christopher Simmons should’ve been sentenced to execution.
