In late adolescence important aspects of brain maturation are incomplete

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The Supreme Court’s recent decision to ban juvenile executions relied not just on constitutional analysis, but also on recent scientific research about adolescent brain functioning. The research, some involving magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, has shown that critical parts of the mind develop later than previously believed. Even older-teenagers appear not to have the impulse control and decision-making ability of people just a few years older.

Marsha Levick, the legal director of the Juvenile Law Center, a national advocacy group for juvenile offenders, said that the research wasn’t available as recently as 1989, when the court last considered juvenile executions and left 16- and 17-year-olds eligible.

In a brief to the court, the American Psychiatric Association said that in late adolescence important aspects of brain maturation are incomplete, particularly those involving decision-making functions. Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his ruling that evidence from these studies led to the conclusion that criminals with a diminished culpability, such as juveniles, should not be subjected to “the law’s most severe penalty.”

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