The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 today to ban the death penalty for those who are under the age of 18 when committing murder. Now, the death penalty for juveniles is unconstitutional.

Right now, there are approximately 70 inmates on death row who committed their crimes when they were under 18. They will no longer be eligible for execution as a result of this decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court stood by a Missouri court that determined that executing minors was 'cruel and unusual punishment' and therefore banned by the constitution. Presently, 19 states allow the execution of murderers who committed their crimes when they were under the age of 18.

A previous decision by the Supreme Court banned the execution of people age 15 or younger when they commit their crimes. Now, that protection has been extended to 16 and 17-year-olds.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for decision for the majority of the court. 'Our society views juveniles... as categorically less culpable than the average criminal,' he wrote.

Kennedy also added, 'It is proper that we acknowledge the overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty, resting in large part on the understanding that the instability and emotional imbalance of young people may often be a factor in the crime.'

Kennedy was joined in the majority by Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and David Souter. Chief Justice Rehnquist voted to uphold the execution of minors along with Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and Sandra Day O'Connor.

Scalia wrote in the dissent that he noticed no such trend towards abolishing the death penalty for minors. 'The court says in so many words that what our people's laws say about the issue does not, in the last analysis, matter: 'In the end our own judgment will be brought to bear on the question of the acceptability of the death penalty,' Scalia wrote in his 24-page dissent.

'The court thus proclaims itself sole arbiter of our nation's moral standards,' Scalia continued.