Roper v. Simmons oral argument transcript now on-line

You can now access on-line here the oral argument transcript Roper v. Simmons, the case addressing the continued constitutionality of executing offenders who committed their crimes while juveniles. (Some of my earlier coverage of the case can be found here and here and here.)

The oral argument transcript is a fascinating read, in part because of the range of tough jurisprudential questions the Justices touch upon — e.g., can age be an aggravating factor as well as a mitigating factor at capital sentencing? would the Founders have thought world opinion was relevant in a determination of what constitutes an “unusual” punishment? The transcript alone suggests that the Supreme Court’s decision in Roper v. Simmons will be interesting and important.