Do you find the Court’s determinations about the immaturity and the possibility of change of juvenile offenders to be correct?
Two 14- year-old offenders in this case were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. In neither case did the sentencing authority have any discretion to impose a different punishment. State law mandated that each juvenile die in prison even if a judge or jury would have thought that his youth and its attendant characteristics, along with the nature of his crime, made a lesser sentence (for example, life with the possibility of parole) more appropriate. The Court addresses whether a mandatory life sentence without parole for those under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
Do you find the Court’s determinations about the immaturity and the possibility of change of juvenile offenders to be correct?
The Court did not foreclose the possibility of life imprisonment for juveniles, only life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. What factors do you think the Court expects future parole decision makers to take into consideration?
In light of the Court’s opinion in Miller v. Alabama, how would you resolve the 8th Amendment issues raised in State v. Long, 2012 Ohio 3052 (Ohio App. 2012) and Bunch v. Smith, 2012 U. S. App. LEXIS 13756 (6th Cir. 2012)?
Answer preview Do you find the Court’s determinations about the immaturity and the possibility of change of juvenile offenders to be correct?
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