Missouri, which led a move to execute juveniles in the late 1980s, backpedaled Tuesday as the state Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional to apply death sentences to people younger than 18 at the time of their crimes.
In a 4-3 decision, the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of Christopher Simmons, who was 17 when he killed a woman a decade ago. Instead, the court sentenced him to life in prison.
The Missouri court said it based its decision on a June 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prohibited the execution of the mentally retarded as unconstitutionally cruel.
The decision is bound to be controversial, both because the Missouri legislature has recently declined to change a state law allowing the execution of those as young as 16, and because the U.S. Supreme Court just allowed the execution of an Oklahoman who killed at 17. Read all about it here from CNN.com/Law Center.