U.S. Supreme Court to Consider Whether Miller v. Alabama Applies Retroactively

Today, the United States Supreme Court granted review in Toca v. Louisiana, addressing the question of whether Miller v. Alabama applies retroactively to individuals serving mandatory juvenile life without parole sentences. Though Miller found that mandatory life without parole sentences are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders, four states (Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania) have refused to apply Miller to older cases where the conviction was final before the Supreme Court decided Miller. Nine other states, however, have held that all juveniles serving mandatory life without parole sentences are entitled to new sentencing hearings.

Juvenile Law Center is hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in Toca that all juvenile offenders serving mandatory life without parole sentences must have the opportunity to receive new sentencing hearings in which their age and potential for rehabilitation can be considered. Justice should not depend on geography or the arbitrary date a conviction became final.

Juvenile Law Center expects to participate as an amicus in this Supreme Court case. The case should be decided by the end of this year’s term, which ends June 30, 2015.

Click here to read the U.S. Supreme Court’s order.

Click here to read the Petition for Certiorari.