Decision of the court

The case was argued on November 9, 1987, and was decided on June 29, 1988, by a 5-3 vote, which overturned the death sentence and moved the case to the lower court. In its ruling, the Supreme Court stated "The Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments prohibit the execution of a person who was under 16 years of age at the time of his or her offense."(http://www.enotes.com/supreme-court-drama/thompson-v-oklahoma) However, only four of the justices fully agreed with this ruling. Justice John P. Stevens announced the judgment of the court and delivered an opinion in which Justices William J. Brennan, Thurgood Marshall, and Harry A. Blackmun joined. These four judges found that the execution of a 15 year old offender would be cruel and unusual in all cases. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor agreed with their decision to overturn Thompson's death sentence, but not because she agreed that the death penalty was a cruel and unusual punishment for a juvenile. Rather, she objected to it because Oklahoma's death penalty statute set no minimum age limit at which the death penalty could be imposed. She found that the sentencing of a 15-year-old to death under this type of statute failed to meet the standard for special care and deliberation required in all capital cases. This set the stage for the court's later decision that, if a state set a specific minimum age, the death penalty was allowable for anyone over that age.