Supreme Court Rules That Mandatory Life Without Parole For Juvenile Homocide Offenders Violates Constitution's Ban On "Cruel And Unusual Punishment"

The Supreme Court handed down its decision in Miller v. Alabama today.  The majority opinion written by Justice Elena Kagan ruled that mandatory sentences of life without parole for juvenile homicide offenders violates the Eighth Amendment.  

Justice Clarence Thomas dissented:

"To reach that result, the Court relies on two lines of precedent... Neither line is consistent with the original understanding of the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause. The Court compounds its errors by combining these lines of precedent and extending them to reach a result that is even less legitimate than the foundation on which it is built... [T]he Court upsets the legislatively enacted sentencing regimes of 29 jurisdictions without constitutional warrant... Today’s decision invalidates a constitutionally permissible sentencing system based on nothing more than the Court’s belief that 'its own sense of morality...preempts that of the people and their representatives' [Thomas dissenting in Graham v. Florida]. Because nothing in the Constitution grants the Court the authority it exercises today, I respectfully dissent. "

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