Some court decisions settle a question. Others change the entire framework through which the question is asked. Roper v. Simmons is the second kind. Before Roper, the United States was one of a small number of countries in the world that executed people for crimes committed as children. After Roper, it was not. What happened in between is one of the most important stories in the history of neurolaw. Before the ruling For most of American legal history, the age of a defendant
