Today, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Miller v. Alabama, No. 10-9646 holding that “mandatory life without parole for those under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on ‘cruel and unusual punishments.’” and that “a judge or jury must have the opportunity to consider mitigating circumstances before imposing the harshest possible penalty for juveniles.” The Court reversed the decisions of the Arkansas Supreme Court and Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals and remanded the cases for further proceedings. Justice Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court (5-4) in which Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor joined. Justice Breyer filed a concurring opinion in which Justice Sotomayor joined. Chief Justice Roberts filed a dissenting opinion in which Justice Thomas and Alito joined. Justice Thomas filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Scalia joined. Justice Alito filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Scalia joined.
Below is a link to the full opinion:
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-9646g2i8.pdf
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