en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roper_v._Simmons
1 correction found
Miller v. Alabama held life without parole sentences unconstitutional for minors
This overstates Miller v. Alabama. Miller did not ban all life-without-parole sentences for minors; it banned only mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders.
Full reasoning
The article says Miller v. Alabama held "life without parole sentences unconstitutional for minors," but that is broader than what the Supreme Court actually decided.
In Miller v. Alabama, the Court held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits mandatory life-without-parole sentences for offenders under 18. It did not categorically forbid every life-without-parole sentence for juveniles. Later Supreme Court summaries of Miller make this explicit: a juvenile homicide offender may still receive life without parole if the sentence is not mandatory and the sentencer has discretion to impose a lesser punishment.
So the statement is incorrect because it omits the key limitation—mandatory life without parole—and incorrectly suggests that Miller barred all such sentences for minors.
2 sources
- Miller v. Alabama | Legal Information Institute
To invalidate mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles... the Court also relies on its cases 'prohibit[ing] mandatory imposition of capital punishment.'
- Jones v. Mississippi | Legal Information Institute
Miller held that the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment prohibits mandatory life-without-parole sentences for murderers under 18, but the Court allowed discretionary life-without-parole sentences for those offenders.