In his dissent in Roper v Simmons, Justice Scalia gave a couple examples of brutal crimes committed by juveniles: "Defendant Christopher Simmons of this case,

In his dissent in Roper v Simmons, Justice Scalia gave a couple examples of brutal crimes committed by juveniles: "Defendant Christopher Simmons of this case, who was only seven months shy of his 18th birthday when he murdered Shirley Crook, described to his friends beforehand—in 'chilling, callous terms,' as the Kennedy majority opinion puts it—the murder he planned to commit. He and his 15—year—old accomplice then broke into the home of an innocent woman in the middle of the night, forced her from bed, walked her to a trestle spanning a river, 'hog—tied' her with duct tape and electrical wire, and threw her off a bridge alive and conscious. She drowned." "In Alabama, two 17—year—olds, one 16—year—old, and one 19—year—old picked up a female hitchhiker, threw bottles at her, and kicked and stomped her for approximately 30 minutes until she died. They then sexually assaulted her lifeless body and, when they were finished, threw her body off a cliff. They later returned to the crime scene to mutilate her corpse." In these cases, the problem is not impulse control but evil. I hope the courts never forget that evil exists.