The U.S. is one of a handful of nations that permit the death penalty for offenders who committed crimes before the age of 18. Only three juvenile killers have been executed since the Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, but 29 remain on death row. This term, the court was expected to settle the question of whether the Constitution forbids such executions by considering the case of William Wayne Thompson, 21, an Oklahoma inmate who was 15 when he helped murder his former brother-in-law.
When the decision came down last week, however, the result was less clear cut. Four...
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