The 5-to-4 decision upheld a ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court in the case of Christopher Simmons, who was 17 at the time of the 1993 murder for which he was convicted. The ruling removes 72 inmates from death row in 12 states.

The decision represents a reversal of the court’s ruling just 16 years ago that upheld the use of the death penalty for individuals convicted for crimes committed at the age of 16 or 17. At that time, the justices said these executions did not violate the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments.”

Writing for the court’s majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy said this decision was necessary to keep pace with the “evolving standards of decency” that for the past half century have affected the Supreme Court’s view of what constitutes a violation of the Eighth Amendment.

“Our determination that the death penalty is disproportionate punishment for offenders under 18 finds confirmation in the stark reality that the United States is the only country in the world that continues to give official sanction to the juvenile death penalty,” wrote Kennedy. “Only seven countries other than the United States have executed juvenile offenders since 1990: Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and China. Since then each of these countries has either abolished capital punishment for juveniles or made public disavowal of the practice.”

The Supreme Court justice further noted, “The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which every country in the world has ratified save the United States and Somalia, contains an express prohibition on capital punishment for crimes committed by juveniles under 18.”

There have been 19 such executions in the United States since 1990. Prior to the court’s ruling, 20 states permitted the death penalty for juvenile crimes. There are 29 inmates in Texas on death row, by far the largest number in the country.

The Supreme Court’s ruling is the latest over the past several years that have restricted use of the death penalty. In 1988 the court barred the execution of those 15 and younger at the time of the crime, though a year later upheld executions for those aged 16 and 17. In 2002 the court struck down execution of those who were mentally retarded, removing some 300 inmates from death row. The following year the court overturned the death sentence of a Maryland man because of ineffective representation by his court-appointed attorney, ruling that defendants have the right not just to counsel but to “effective counsel.” Also struck down at that time was the conviction of a Texas death row prisoner because of racially biased jury selection.

Since the Supreme Court reinstated the use of the death penalty in 1976, there have been 950 executions—339 of them in Texas. As of January 2005, 3,455 individuals are on death row—42 percent of them in three states: 639 in California, 447 in Texas, and 382 in Florida. Currently, the District of Columbia and 12 states—Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin—do not permit use of the death penalty.  
 
 
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