FindLaw.com columnist Edward Lazarus offers this critique of the Roper v. Simmons case banning the application of the death penalty to convicted murderer who were minors at the time of their crime. The tag line to the article, "A morally good result, supported by less-than-convincing legal reasoning" sums it up quite well.
On a more troubling ground, the majority used less than convincing support in the form of other nation's laws, unratified treaties and other less compelling authority as support for their argument. This was the subject of a colloquy between Justice Scalia and Justice Breyer at American University's Washington School of Law. See here for the press release and full transcript of the event. Here is the link to the Real Video Archive from C-SPAN
FindLaw's Writ - Lazarus: The Supreme Court Strikes Down the Death Penalty For Juvenile Offenders A Morally Good Result,
Update: Yale law student Will Baude presents an opinion about Justice Kennedy's reasoning in the juvenile death penalty case in The New Republic Online. hat Tip to The Volokh Conspiracy
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