SCOTUS Rules Minors Can’t Get Life Without Parole…

…if they are convicted of non-murder crimes. CNN & AFP say the decision was 6-3. AP & ABC say 5-4. [My count says 6-3.] All agree the court said locking up teenagers for life without parole if they haven’t killed anyone is cruel and unusual punishment. AFP:

“The clause does not permit a juvenile offender to be sentenced to life in prison without parole for a nonhomicide crime,” said the majority opinion.
According to the court, there are 129 juvenile non-homicide offenders serving life without parole sentences, of which 77 are in Florida.

“A state is not required to guarantee eventual freedom to a juvenile offender convicted of a nonhomicide crime.” the court said. “What the state must do, however, is give defendants like Graham some meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation.”

The court also said that various studies indicate that the United States is the only nation that imposes life without parole sentences on juvenile non-homicide offenders.

“While the judgments of other nations and the international community are not dispositive as to the meaning of the (constitution’s) Eighth Amendment, the court has looked abroad to support its independent conclusion that a particular punishment is cruel and unusual,” the justices wrote.

Here’s the opinion (pdf) signers:

KENNEDY, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which STEVENS, GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined. STEVENS, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which GINSBURG and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined. ROBERTS, C. J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. THOMAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined, and in which ALITO, J., joined as to Parts I and III. ALITO, J., filed a dissenting opinion.

SCOTUSblogs Wiki entry for Graham v. Florida.

LATER: WaPo says 5 to 4, too. I think they must be confused by Roberts’ concurrence. Their summary of the case:

The case at hand involved Terrance Jamar Graham, who was convicted of robbery in Jacksonville, Fla. when he was 16. He received probation but was arrested again at 17 for taking part in a home invasion. The judge in the case then sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

I emphatically agree with the decision. While we wait for commentary and analysis…

From the devastatingly powerful 2007 Frontline documentary, When Kids Get Life, this clip on culpable adolescent brains & the Supermax. It describes a Colorado parole hearing that “does not permit participation of private counsel” and in which testimony is confidential and “shall not be revealed to the offender at any time.”

You can find me @jwindish, at my Public Notebook, or email me at joe-AT-joewindish-DOT-com.