In a 5-4 ruling that cited the "overwhelming weight of international opinion," the high court declared unconstitutional the death penalty for those under the age of 18 when they committed their crimes.
The decision in the case of a 1993 Missouri killing could affect more than 70 death-row inmates who face execution for murders done when they were 16 or 17 years old. The total U.S. death-row population is nearly 3,500.
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The United States was the only country in the world that still gave official sanction to the juvenile death penalty, Kennedy said in his ruling.
He noted the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits the juvenile death penalty, has been ratified by every country except Somalia and the United States.
Only seven countries other than the United States have executed juvenile offenders since 1990, he said. They are Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and China.
Since 1990, each of the seven countries has abolished capital punishment for juveniles or made public disavowal of the practice, Kennedy said.
