Will Supreme Court Decision Be Death Knell for Life Without Parole?

The Denver Post reports that the high court’s ruling announced Monday settles the debate over a 2012 ruling that found it unconstitutional to sentence juveniles convicted of murder to automatic life terms without the possibility of parole. Writing for the majority in the court’s 6-3 ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy said that the states could solve this problem by allowing these prisoners to be considered for parole.

There are many more Marylanders who are serving life sentences with parole, but the state’s parole system “does not provide a realistic chance of release for juvenile lifers”, Johnston said in a statement.

“Requiring the states to resentence hundreds of offenders, many of whose crimes were committed decades ago, would undermine the community’s safety and would offend principles of finality”, the states argued in the brief, led by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

The ruling just came down Monday, that means officials are in the process of figuring out what exactly this new ruling means, who’s eligible for resentencing and who does the responsibility fall on.

Here are the 11 people from York County now serving a life sentence for a crime they were convicted of committing before turning 18 years old. The oldest was sentenced in 1953, when he was 15, she said. Under Supreme Court precedent, “procedural” decisions apply only prospectively, while “substantive” or “watershed” decisions apply retroactively. Indeed, the Supreme Court usually does not make its criminal law decisions retroactive – but this case proved a rare exception.

Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard said he understands the reasoning behind the court’s decision regarding juvenile offenders, though he disagrees with it. He said in the cases of Click and Storey, there should be no possibility of parole. The Court decided in Teague v. Lane that, in order to apply retroactively, a new rule must either completely prohibit a punishment that can be imposed on a class of defendants, or be a “watershed rule of criminal procedure” that impacts the fundamental fairness of criminal proceedings.

Experts say there are some 2,000 life termers in similar circumstances, sentenced without consideration of the “immaturity, recklessness and impetuosity” of youth.

The Tennessee Department of Corrections on Tuesday could not immediately provide the number of juvenile inmates serving life sentences without parole.

The decision to take a fresh look at the cases gives three new justices, Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht, who were sworn-in earlier this month the opportunity to participate in decisions that will guide lawyers and judges in the future. He said Click was severely mentally ill at the time of the murder and has been a model prisoner. But the Supreme Court has previously said such sentences should be rare, and only for the most heinous crimes.

The ruling was met with celebration from juvenile defenders, while victims’ advocates expressed uncertainty for families who might have to re-testify for the offender’s parole board.

Myers’ execution has been stayed while on appeal in the Ohio Supreme Court.

“I saw this as a very good sign that they’re really trying to get their act together”, he said.