US Supreme Court limits some juvenile sentences, upholds life w/o parole for juvenile murderers

[Hannah Bell]

In a 6-3 decision Monday, the US Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional life without parole prison sentences for juvenile offenders whose crimes do not involve murder. The ruling upholds such punishment for young offenders convicted of homicide and does not challenge the constitutionality of trying those charged with crimes committed as juveniles in adult courts.

The court ruled in the case of Terrance Graham, who was sentenced in the state of Florida to life in prison without the possibility of parole for an armed robbery committed when he was 17. The majority ruled that the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual” punishment renders such punishment unconstitutional.

A study presented by Graham’s attorneys and supplemented by the high court’s own research shows that only about 130 juvenile offenders will be affected by the ruling; 77 are in Florida and the rest are in 10 other states. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia currently allow sentences of life without parole for crimes not involving murder committed by juveniles.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, speaking for the majority, noted that prior to the high court’s ruling, “The United States is the only nation that imposes life without parole sentences on juvenile non-homicide offenders.” He was joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/may2010/juve-m18.shtml