This month marks the 20th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roper v. Simmons. In a series of posts anticipating the April 2025 release of DPI’s report commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Roper decision and its implications for emerging adults , we are exploring scientific and legal developments related to juveniles and emerging adults in the death penalty system.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) refer to potentially traumatic events and circumstances that impair an individual’s sense of safety and stability during childhood (0 – 17 years). These experiences may include abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual), witnessing violence within the family or community, and household instability (incarceration of family members, parental separation, substance use or mental health problems). This phenomenon is a growing concern in policy conversations and psychological research because of the lifetime impact of ACEs on neurological development, manifesting in the prevalence of various negative mental health outcomes. Research also indicates that exposure to ACEs increases an individual’s likelihood of criminal activity.
ACEs and Mental Health
One area in which the impact of adverse childhood experiences has been documented is in the prevalence of depression. Chapman et al. (2004) examined the relationship between the total number of ACEs experienced and the prevalence of depressive disorders. They looked at both lifetime history and recent occurrence of a depressive disorder, utilizing responses from a large ACE Study survey. This study found a strong relationship between the number of ACEs and the probability of lifetime and recent depressive disorders, with childhood emotional abuse specifically posing the greatest threat. Finding a strong positive correlation between ACEs and depressive disorders suggests childhood maltreatment introduces a trickle-down effect of negative impacts on mental health throughout the lifespan.
A similar developmental outcome was discovered in the relationship between ACEs and alcohol abuse. Dube and colleagues (2002) examined eight different adverse experiences, finding each one was associated with a higher risk of alcohol abuse in adulthood. Further, they found a strong relationship, paralleling that found for depressive disorders, between the number of ACEs and adult alcohol use. This suggests that childhood trauma may exponentially alter an individual’s life trajectory regarding alcohol. For example, compared to adults who had no adverse experiences in childhood, those who experienced at least four ACEs were three times as likely to report alcohol problems later in life.
Finally, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has also been documented as a potential negative mental health outcome of ACEs. Messman-Moore and Bhuptani (2017) reviewed PTSD and its co-occurring disorders related to child maltreatment, establishing childhood abuse and neglect increase the risk for current and lifetime PTSD in adulthood.
ACEs and the Justice System
A DPI analysis found that severe childhood trauma was evident in 71 of the 95 people executed (75%) between 2020 – 2024, and 32 of those with trauma were under the age of 25 at the time of the crime that led to their death sentence.
The various mental health challenges resulting from ACEs do not exist in isolation, but instead often bridge the path from trauma to engagement with the justice system. These consequences can influence behaviors that increase the likelihood of arrest and incarceration, creating an unfortunate feedback loop between experiences of trauma and the carceral system.
The relationship between ACEs and the justice system is further enhanced when focusing on how trauma-impacted mental health issues can develop into more sustained personality disorders. Approximately 80% of the adult prison population meets the diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder, which requires a pre-existing diagnosis of conduct disorder before age 15, emphasizing the long-term risk of violence and aggression resulting from these early childhood experiences.
The Roper v. Simmons Supreme Court decision, establishing the 18-year age minimum for death penalty eligibility, prompted a discussion of maltreatment, child development, and culpability among researchers and legal experts. Haney, Baumgartner, and Steele (2022) argue that individuals engaging in acts of violence with the potential for capital punishment outcomes generally represent a group that has been exposed to numerous risk factors, adverse childhood experiences, and traumas, especially at an earlier age in their lives. According to Haney et.al., “This means that a sizable sub-group of members of the late adolescent class [those aged 18 – 20] who are subject to the death penalty are likely to be even more neurologically, cognitively, and emotionally immature than the baselines established in the research we have cited.” Haney concludes that this age group is therefore “even less culpable[.]”
ACEs Among Death Row Prisoners: A Current Example
Mikal at age 8. Baltimore, MD (1991).
Courtesy of counsel for Mikal Mahdi.
The South Carolina case of Mikal Mahdi, who was sentenced to death in 2006, demonstrates the relationship between ACEs and the legal system, as his attorneys plead with the Supreme Court to consider the substantial influence his childhood experiences had on his brain development and behavior. Mr. Mahdi was abandoned by his mother at age four, witnessed the kidnapping and attempted homicide of his mother by his father at age eight, suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts, and spent most of his life in jail environments, including a large portion in solitary confinement. Mr. Mahdi’s case is a powerful example of the connections among abuse, mental illness, and the carceral system.
Mr. Mahdi is scheduled to be executed in South Carolina on April 11, 2025, and has chosen firing squad as his method of execution. David Weiss, Mr. Mahdi’s attorney, offered a statement on his client’s decision: “When we think of Mikal choosing his method of execution, we’re reminded of the tormented child who, at nine years old, told his teacher that he wanted to shoot himself. Or, on another occasion, to electrocute himself. Or, another time, to hang himself.”
CDC, About Adverse Childhood Experiences.
Daniel P. Chapman, Charles L. Whitfield, Vincent J. Felitti, Shanta R. Dube, Valerie J. Edwards, & Robert F. Anda, Adverse childhood experiences and the risk of depressive disorders in adulthood, Journal of Affective Disorders, October, 2004.
Shanta R. Dube, Robert F. Anda, Vincent J. Felitti, Valerie J. Edwards, & Janet B. Croft, Adverse childhood experiences and personal alcohol abuse as an adult, Addictive Behaviors, September-October, 2002.
Terri L. Messman-Moore, & Prachi H. Bhuptani, A review of the long-term impact of child maltreatment on posttraumatic stress disorder and its comorbidities: An emotion dysregulation perspective, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 2017.
Craig Haney, Frank R. Baumgartner, & Karen Steele, Roper and Race: the Nature and Effects of Death Penalty Exclusions for Juveniles and the “Late Adolescent Class”, Journal of Pediatric Neuropsychology, January 5, 2023.
Monika Dargis, Joseph Newman, & Michael Koenigs, Clarifying the link between childhood abuse history and psychopathic traits in adult criminal offenders, Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 2016.
Skylar Laird, SC death row inmate’s attorneys ask court to halt execution over traumatic childhood, South Carolina Daily Gazette, March 18, 2025.
Skylar Laird, Second DC death row inmate chooses to die by firing squad, South Carolina Daily Gazette, March 28, 2025.
Robert D. Hare, Diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder in two prison populations, The American Journal of Psychiatry, July, 1983.
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