1987 amici curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Thompson v. Oklahoma

Adolescent Psychiatry,  2002  by McLaughlin, Joseph T,  Epstein, Jeremy G,  Weisburg, Henry,  Freeling, Kenneth A,  Et al

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1987 AMICI CURIAE BRIEF IN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT CASE OF THOMPSON V OKLAHOMA'

No. 86-6169

IN THE Supreme Court of the United States

OCTOBER TERM, 1986

WILLIAM WAYNE THOMPSON,

Petitioner,

-v.

STATE OF OKLAHOMA,

Respondent.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

BRIEF OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND THE AMERICAN ORTHOPSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER

JOSEPH T. MCLAUGHLIN

Counsel of Record

JEREMY G. EPSTEIN

HENRY WEISBURG

KENNETH A FREELING

ROBERT L. PEABODY

STEVEN M. PINCUS

SHEARMAN & STERLING

53 Wall Street

New York, New York 10005

(212) 837-6000

Attorneys for Amici Curiae

May 15, 1987

Question Presented for Review

1. Is the execution of an individual who was under the age of 18 at the time he or she committed a capital offense cruel and unusual punishment in violation of. the Eighth Amendment?

INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE

The American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Orthopsychiatric Association file this brief as amid curiae in support of petitioner by written consent of all parties, pursuant to Rule 36.2 of the Rules of this Court. The parties' letters of consent are on file with the Clerk.

The American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry ("ASAP") (Doris S. Soghor, M.D., President) was founded in 1967 and today has approximately 1400 members. ASAP provides a national forum for adolescent psychiatry and promotes the exchange of psychiatric knowledge about adolescents. Since its founding, ASAP has supported research on the normal development, as well as the psychopathology and treatment, of adolescents, helped to broaden knowledge and understanding of the various factors that may influence adolescent development and substantially improved the psychiatric community's ability to recognize and diagnose psychiatric problems common in adolescents. One half of ASAP's members are child psychiatrists, while the remaining number are general psychiatrists and psychoanalysts who maintain an active professional interest in adolescents. Its members work with adolescents in hospitals, schools and psychiatric clinics around the country as well as within the nation's juvenile court system.

The American Orthopsychiatric Association ("Ortho") (Bert Pepper, M.D., President) was established in 1924 and has traditionally been concerned with the problems, causes, treatment and prevention of psychiatric disturbances. It is an organization comprised of more than 10,000 members representing a variety of mental health-related professions - psychiatry, psychology, psychiatric nursing, social work, education and the law - including experts in adolescent development. With its broad-based membership, Ortho has consistently helped to shape public policy in the mental health and human development field from varying professional perspectives.

Amici sponsor a wide array of educational programs for their members and other mental health professionals. In addition each amicus publishes a scientific journal.

Amid are organizations with extensive background and experience in adolescent development. This brief is intended to provide the Court with relevant data that will enable it to judge the critical issue herein effectively, fairly and with greater knowledge of adolescents developmental capabilities. Adolescents are developmentally different from adults. Accordingly, amid strongly urge the Court to spare adolescents the imposition of capital punishment.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

The law has historically recognized that adolescents differ intellectually and emotionally from adults, and therefore deserve to be judged and treated differently. This view is confirmed by a vast body of clinical research and literature. Psychiatrists and psychologists have demonstrated that adolescents have not yet developed many of the psychological, cognitive, and emotional characteristics of mature adults. Adolescents tend to be less mature, more impulsive, and less capable of controlling their conduct and thinking in terms of long-range consequences. Adolescence is a stage of human development in which one's character and moral judgment are incomplete and still undergoing formation. An adolescent's character structure is more flexible than an adult's and remains open to major modifications. (Point I)

Adolescents who commit capital offenses typically suffer from a variety of serious disturbances which inhibit their natural development. They come from chaotic families, have been exposed to extreme violence, suffer severe cognitive limitations, and frequently have long-standing psychiatric problems. These factors tend to exacerbate the existing vulnerabilities of youth and place an adolescent at extreme risk for seriously violent behavior. The findings of a recently completed study of persons on death row who committed capital offenses in their adolescence are consistent with this general understanding about youthful offenders. William Wayne Thompson, petitioner herein, who was one of the subjects of that study, exhibited the characteristics typical of this distinct subgroup. (Point II)