Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in two new cases that will test the limits of the Court’s important 2010 ruling in Graham v. Florida, which banned the sentence of life without possibility of parole for most juvenile offenders.  Graham recognized an exception, however, for juveniles convicted of homicide.  It is this exception that is at issue in the two new cases, both of which involve fourteen-year-old killers.

The two cases are Miller v. Alabama (opinion below: 63 So. 3d 676 (Ala. Crim. App. 2010)) and Jackson v. Hobbs (2011 Ark. 49).  The question granted in each case is the same, and they are to be argued together.  It appears that the defendants are presenting a categorical challenge to the constitutionality of “LWOP” as applied to fourteen-year-olds.

At Life Sentences Blog, I’ve just finished a series of posts reviewing the Supreme Court’s criminal cases from last term.  In light of their belated nature, I have not cross-posted them, but here are the links:

• Overarching Themes
• Fourth Amendment: Kentucky v. King
• Fourth Amendment: Davis v. United States
• Miranda: J.D.B. v. North Carolina
• Right to Counsel: Turner v. Rogers
• Ineffective Assistance: Pinholster and Moore
• Confrontation Clause: Bullcoming and Bryant
• Other Cases
• Last Term by the Numbers