"[1] The holding in Thompson was expanded on by Roper v. Simmons (2005), where the Supreme Court extended the "evolving standards" rationale to those under 18 years old.

[4] William and three other men (Tony Mann, Richard Jones, and Bobby Glass) then kidnapped Charles Keene on the night of January 23, 1983, in Amber, Oklahoma.

He was found responsible for his deeds and convicted by the District Court of Grady County in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

Thompson's attorneys first attempted to appeal the case on the basis of inflammatory photographs used by the prosecution to allegedly provoke the jury.

The plurality also noted that numerous U.S. jurisdictions and all industrialized Western nations had banned the execution of minors under 16 years of age.