one out of a handful of countries that still imposed the death penalty on juveniles (among other countries 
were Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Iran). 
Graham v Florida (2010) 
Graham v Florida (2010) 
While the death penalty was taken off the table for youth under the age of 18, they were instead being 
sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole  (LWOP). This was until the 2010 case of 
Graham v. Florida. Terrance Graham received life in prison for a felony offense (armed burglary) when he 
was only 16 years old. Since Florida does not have parole, his sentence de facto became a life without the 
possibility of parole. The Supreme Court heard his case and ruled that it was unconstitutional to sentence 
a minor to life without the possibility of parole for a non-homicide offense. 
Miller v Alabama (2012) 
Miller v Alabama (2012) 
Two years later, juvenile law again rested in the hands of the Supreme Court. Even though Graham 
v. Florida abolished life without the possibility of parole for non-homicide offenses, youth under the age 
of 18 were still receiving that sentence for crimes of murder. In 2012, Evan Miller was 14 years old 
when he killed his neighbor by severely beating him with a baseball bat while attempting to rob him. 
With contemporary research about brain formation and juvenile culpability, the Supreme Court ruled 
that youth are not as responsible as adults for their actions because their brains have not fully formed. 
In the majority opinion, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that “mandatory life without parole for those under 
age of 18 at the time of their crime violates the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual 
punishments.” “Mandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological 
age and its hallmark features – among them, immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate risks and 
consequences,” Justice Kagan said. “It prevents taking into account the family and home environment 
that surrounds him – and from which he cannot usually extricate himself – no matter how brutal or 
dysfunctional.” 
This seemed like a huge win for juvenile justice reformers. Juveniles could no longer receive the death 
penalty, life without parole for non-homicide, nor mandatory life without parole for homicide. However, 
there were still so many people serving LWOP sentences who were juveniles when they committed their 
crime. 
ALISON S. BURKE, DAVID CARTER, BRIAN FEDOREK, TIFFANY MOREY, LORE RUTZ-BURRI, AND SHANELL
SANCHEZ
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