Scott Allen Hain (June 2, 1970 – April 3, 2003) was the last person

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for crimes committed as a juvenile. Hain was executed by

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

for a double murder–kidnapping he committed when he was 17 years old.

Crime

Hain was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. As a teenager, he accumulated juvenile convictions for trespassing, theft, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. On October 6, 1987, Hain and Robert Lambert

carjack Carjacking is a robbery in which the item taken over is a motor vehicle.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is ...

ed an automobile in Tulsa that was occupied by Michael Houghton (December 9, 1959 - October 6, 1987) and Laura Sanders (January 8, 1965 - October 6, 1987). Hain and Lambert eventually stopped the car, robbed Houghton and Sanders, and placed them in the trunk of the car. Hain set fire to the car, which resulted in Houghton and Sanders' deaths. Hain was 17 years old at the time of the murders.

Court proceedings and executions

Hain and Lambert were arrested on October 9, 1987. At trial in 1988, they were both convicted of capital

felony murder The rule of felony murder is a legal doctrine in some common law jurisdictions that broadens the crime of murder: when someone is killed (regardless of intent to kill) in the commission of a dangerous or enumerated crime (called a felony in s ...

and sentenced to death by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

. In 1994, an appeals court determined that because the jury had not been told of the possibility of a

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

without any chance of

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

, Hain was entitled to a new sentencing hearing. At the re-sentencing hearing, the new jury again sentenced Hain to death for the murders. All of Hain's subsequent appeals were eventually dismissed, and in February 2002 the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

refused to hear his appeal, which was based on arguments of unconstitutionality executing juvenile offenders. In February 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a stay of execution that had been put in place by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Hain was executed by lethal injection at the age of 32. He was the 60th person executed by Oklahoma since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated by the

. Hain's partner, Lambert, who had been convicted and sentenced in 1994, was retried, convicted and sentenced again to death. In 2005, however, Lambert's case went to the Oklahoma State Court of Criminal Appeals, where the court ruled him "mentally retarded". According to news reports, Lambert will serve a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.

Statistics

As a result of the 1976

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

decision in ''

Gregg v. Georgia ''Gregg v. Georgia'', ''Proffitt v. Florida'', ''Jurek v. Texas'', ''Woodson v. North Carolina'', and ''Roberts v. Louisiana'', 428 U.S. 153 (1976), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. It reaffirmed the Court's acceptance of the use ...

'',

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

was allowed to resume in the United States. With his execution, Hain became:The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #843 - Scott Allen Hain
/ref> * The 22nd juvenile offender executed in the U.S. since 1976, * 23rd murderer executed in the U.S. in 2003, * 843rd murderer executed in the U.S. since 1976, * 5th murderer executed in Oklahoma in 2003, * And 60th murderer executed in Oklahoma since 1976. Hain was the last person

in the

for crimes committed as a minor, prior to the 2005 '' Roper v. Simmons'' case in which the United States Supreme Court outlawed such executions.

End of juvenile offender executions in the United States

In March 2005, less than two years after Hain's execution, the

held in the 5–4 decision of '' Roper v. Simmons'' that the

Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Eighth Amendment (Amendment VIII) to the United States Constitution protects against imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishments. This amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the ...

was violated when offenders were executed for crimes committed prior to the age of 18. If ''Roper v. Simmons'' had been decided prior to Hain's execution, Hain could not have been legally executed.

References

External links

* Charlie Savage
"Executions barred for juvenile killers: In 5-4 ruling, justices invoke global standard"
''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...