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I don't know that they stood on solid legal ground in trying to say that there is a sensus plenarius to states moving away from minor's and capital punishment. I think they would have been better to look back at the recent judicial sentencing rulings (US v. Booker and US v Fanfan). There principle there was upheld that a judge cannot make an additional finding of fact in a case that adds additional punishment.
Establishing a defendant as an adult for capital cases seems a really similar practice. The judge is in essence making a finding of fact that says "This person exists under special circumstances, and they are therefore eligible for additional punishment". In this case, the finding of fact is that the defendent is a fully culpable adult in regards to the crime they committed.
It would be similar to a jury finding a person not guilty by reason of insanity, but a judge saying "I find this person to be sane, and therefore guilty". The judge can't decree that finding - it's a jury question.
I'm no lawyer, but that seems like it would have been a better tack to take that saying "All the cool kids are doing it ..."
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