By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis – A coalition of Missouri groups opposed to juvenile executions Monday filed a friend of the court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.
This fall, the court will hear the case of Christopher Simmons, the Missouri man who committed murder at age 17.
Last August, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled juvenile executions were unconstitutional, but the state attorney general appealed the case.
Rita Linhardt with the Missouri Ban Youth Executions Coalition says the fact that Wyoming and South Dakota both raised their minimum execution ages to 18 this year bolsters their case.
"So there is a movement, people are going away from this," Linhardt said. "It's not really acceptable in a lot of our states anymore. So I think that's also going to help when the U.S. Supreme Court looks at this issue."
The Missouri Attorney General's office declined to comment on the case.