Roper Dissents

O'Conner first because while I don't agree with her she was alone in her dissent and so I will look at her first. In her dissent she does not dispute that there may be a trend in the states to move away from the execution of juveniles, but states that the trend is not yet strong enough to meet the burden set in Atkins so it is not yet time to bar the execution of juveniles judicially. She also challenges the social science in the second section of the opinion. She states that some juveniles may be emotionally responsible enough and mature enough to deal with the consequences of their crimes. She then agrees with the third part of the opinion, that we as a country can look to the international community and states that she disagrees with Mr. Justice Scalia's opinion on the matter. So to summarize, O'Conner's dissent comes down to, it is just not time to quit killing kids, and some kids are mature enough to kill and Oh yes, I don't agree with the raving lunatic Scalia.

Scalia's dissent: Foam, Spittle, Rave, Foam, Spittle. How dare we look to other coutries; I am a xenophobic. Foam, Spittle, Rave, Foam, This is a disastrous opinion and the death of the constitution! We let children kill their babies; why can't we execute children! Foam, Rave, Spittle, Rave and so on. I usually enjoy Scalia's dissents. They are normally well written and well thought out. This one is like reading my eleven year old having a hissy fit, and arguing with her father coming back in the living room throwing everything she can think of at him as to why she is right and he is wrong. Sorry Mr. Justice Scalia you didn't do well this time out of the gate, but you did argue as well as my kiddo and she will make a great lawyer one day, because she would argue the color of the sky with God himself.