WASHINGTON.- Monday the Supreme Court ruled that Juveniles cannot be sentenced to life in prison without the option of parole. In a 5-4 vote, the court ruled that States sentencing juveniles convicted of murder without the possibility of parole was unconstitutional.
Justice Elena Kagan who wrote the majority statement said "we hold that mandatory life 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'," according to the Associated Press.
Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor were among those to join her in her vote.
Justices John Roberts wrote in his dissent, "Neither the text of the Constitution or our precedent prohibits legislatures from requiring that juvenile murderers be sentenced to life without parole," according to AP. He was joined by Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito in his vote.
The decision however, does permit judges to sentence a juvenile in a murder case to life in prison without parole, but only in individual cases. What the ruling declares is that States cannot pass any laws that automatically impose it.
The Supreme Court decision comes from the case of Evan Miller and Kuntrell Jackson, who were convicted of murder when they were 14 years old and sentenced to life in prison.
The ruling invalidates such laws already existing in 28 states. According to the Los Angeles Times it is unclear whether the ruling will be applicable to current prisoners serving life-time sentences now or will it apply only to future cases. If the first assumption holds then that could mean a new hearing to the more than 2,000 prisoners who are now serving life in prison.
