## Facts

- James Terry Roach and Jay Pinkerton were United States nationals sentenced to death for offenses committed when each was 17 years old.
- Roach was convicted in South Carolina of rape and murder and was sentenced to death in 1977; after multiple state and federal reviews, he was executed on January 10, 1986.
- Pinkerton was convicted in Texas of murder and attempted rape; after affirmance and denial of certiorari, he was executed on May 15, 1986.
- At the time, United States law did not categorically bar capital punishment for offenders under 18; juveniles could be transferred to adult court where the death penalty was available.
- After domestic remedies were exhausted, petitions were filed before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleging violations of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and customary international law.
- Although both individuals were executed while the petitions were pending, the Commission continued its merits review and issued Resolution No. 3/87 on September 22, 1987.

## Issues

1. Whether imposing and carrying out the death penalty for crimes committed under age 18 violated the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.
2. Whether, as of 1987, customary international law established 18 as the minimum age for imposition of the death penalty, binding the United States.

## Decision

- The Commission held that, as of 1987, customary international law had not crystallized a rule establishing 18 as the minimum age for capital punishment.
- The Commission recognized a strong international trend toward prohibiting the death penalty for offenders under 18 and criticized United States practice as inconsistent with evolving human rights standards reflected in the American Declaration.
- The Commission urged the United States to bring its law and practice into conformity with the developing international standard against juvenile capital punishment.

## Legal Principles

- Member states of the Organization of American States are subject to international obligations under the American Declaration, and the Declaration is interpreted in light of developments in international human rights law.
- A customary international law rule requires sufficiently widespread and consistent state practice accompanied by opinio juris; a discernible trend, without sufficient uniformity, is insufficient to establish a binding customary minimum age of 18.
- International human rights analysis may condemn a practice as contrary to the humanitarian object and evolving interpretation of the American Declaration even where a specific customary rule is not found to exist at the claimed threshold.

## Conclusion

The Commission declined to find that customary international law in 1987 set 18 as a binding minimum age for the death penalty, but it treated the American Declaration as an evolving source of obligations and sharply criticized the execution of offenders for crimes committed at 17, calling on the United States to abolish juvenile capital punishment in line with emerging international standards.


Roach & Pinkerton v. United States, Case No. 9647, Inter-Am. Comm’n H.R. Res. No. 3/87 (Sept. 22, 1987)