Life Without Parole For Minors: Supreme Court To Decide Fate Of Evan Miller And Kuntrell Jackson

The Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on whether it is cruel and unusual punishment to sentence juveniles to life in prison.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on whether it is cruel and unusual punishment to sentence juveniles to life in prison.

The controversial hearing will be held on March 20 and will focus on two separate cases involving offenders who were 14 years old when they committed murder. The offenders, Evan Miller and Kuntrell Jackson, are now ages 23 and 26, respectively.

Michigan has six convicts who were 14 at the time their crimes were committed. Nationwide, there are approximately 73 serving life without parole for homicide cases, Michigan Live reported.

Alabama's Equal Justice Initiative will argue the case on behalf of Miller and Jackson. In a recent brief filed by the advocacy group, they argue the court should weigh the offender's level of maturity at the time of their crimes, because teenagers are "given to impulsive, heedless, sensation-seeking behavior and excessive peer pressure," the brief reads.

Attorneys representing the state of Arkansas have pointed to the 10th Amendment, which they interpret as giving the state the right to run their prison system according to their own standards.

According to AHN News, Miller, of Speake, Ala., was sentenced to life without parole for beating a 52-year-old man with a baseball bat and burning him alive in a mobile home. Jackson, of Blytheville, Ark., was convicted in the shooting death of a video store clerk.

Despite the harshness of the crimes committed by Miller and Jackson, they have a number of supporters. In an interview with MSNBC.com, Kim Taylor-Thompson, a professor of clinical law at the New York University School of Law, said she agrees with Alabama's Equal Justice Initiative.

"No one is excusing the fact of what happened," she told the website. "What we are saying is: Did these two young men engage in thought processes that would make us say today they're the type of individuals who can never be rehabilitated, never change and be locked up to never see the light of day?"

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Comments

[Pjoae123]

10:34 AM on 01/27/2013

I really struggle with this question. On one hand, when such violence is used it is hard to say that such persons should not be locked away for their entire lifetimes. Yet, we do know that the juvenile brain, even though it may understand that killing is wrong, is still not fully developed. Juveniles may know right from wrong but they still lack full reasoning and impulse controls. And one must also consider environmental factors that may be impacting a child's development and therefore behavior. I sure don't want a potentially dangerous person let loose, but when a child is so young when the crime is committed I am not so sure rehabilitation is not possible and I feel it should be attempted.

[Bamacutie1]

01:38 PM on 10/14/2012

The truth of the matter is, yes this was a terrible crime! But they are 14 years old. Age should definitely be taken into consideration. Yes they should be punished, but should not receive the maximum punishment of life without the possibility of parole.

[fivehole84]

10:44 PM on 03/19/2012

When did we change the meanings of "cruel and unusual" ? Beating a man with a baseball bat and burning him alive is cruel and unusual. Sitting in prison for the rest of your life because you we need to protect society from you is not cruel at all.
However, I do agree that they should not have to spend their lives in prison. They should be fried and we can forget they ever existed. Silly humans with your beliefs of not holding people accountable. If a dog attacks 20 people, do they not put them down? These people are no smarter than dogs, so we should feel no different about putting them down either.
This cat believes strongly that we do not execute nearly enough people.

[Juggalo17]

02:15 PM on 03/19/2012

Let him rot in prison. Freakin Worm

[jack2649]

08:13 AM on 03/19/2012

At age fourteen you know exactly what you are doing when it comes to murder, some people are just born bad and will never change, the rest of society need protecting from this sort of person, so yes lock them up and throw away the key

[Edward Wilkes]

12:35 AM on 03/19/2012

People who murder for the thrill of it always need to be taken out of society for the safety of others. Age makes no difference here. If the glove fits convict!

[gernger]

07:19 PM on 03/18/2012

With the visciouness of the crime, I think there is a distinct possibility that Miller is a budding serial killer. If Dahmer would have committed a terrible crime at 14, would he have been considerred for parole. I read about a FLA case years ago. A 12 yr old and his friend broke into a house, more as a prank than anything else. They didn't know an old woman was home. They found a gun in the .house. What was believed to be an accident, they killed the woman. They got life without. I don't think they should get life. These are different type of crimes.

[proscanusa]

11:02 PM on 03/19/2012

They found a gun and pulled the trigger... believed to be an accident:"

Enough said genius. Please...

[vidian6]

06:42 PM on 03/18/2012

No child should be given life without parole. They should be in an institution, to determine menta health issues.

[slots215]

02:20 AM on 03/19/2012

well, when a child kills your loved one, write again and we shall see what you say about a child who murdered your loved one

[lejistar]

05:05 AM on 03/19/2012

I would still say exactly the same thing, what they do don't make them an adult. You would probably be one of those people who don't think that children can make decisions as to who they want to sleep with, but when they do something wrong they can. Can't have life both ways., either they are children, or they are adults.

[proscanusa]

11:02 PM on 03/19/2012

What is a MENTA health issues?

[Tracee Collins]

08:29 AM on 03/20/2012

Is that all you're contributing to the conversation? Thanks soo much for being today's spelling/typo/grammar police!!!

[PitBullWoman]

10:40 PM on 03/17/2012

Children convicts should all have the possibility of parole. Whether they earn it is up to them.

[slots215]

02:09 AM on 03/18/2012

i wonder what you would say to the child that kills your family member parole?? i doubt it

[PitBullWoman]

07:02 PM on 03/19/2012

Would you still feel the same way if your child was the killer?

A child's brain isn't even wired to consider consequences and to have judgement. The brain isn't fully developed until age 25. Any crime committed before that age has to have that as a mitigating factor. Give a child the chance to get out. That doesn't mean he automatically will get out.

[mother10]

10:22 PM on 03/17/2012

Sorry bleeding hearts, some people can't be helped...ONLY BY GOD !

[Tracee Collins]

08:29 AM on 03/20/2012

Oh, fer geez. Another one of you people...

[mother10]

10:20 PM on 03/17/2012

I have news for you readers, these guys did a terrible thing...just terrible...AND no one can even say RACISIM in this story because one is black and the other one is white...I just googled the stories on both of them...their crimes were TERRIBLE...special education on them both I think...they just never had a chance, but it's too late now...

[sadlesor]

11:57 AM on 03/17/2012

When the victims have a second chance of living then sure, why not, give these murders a second chance outside of prison. How about thinking about the lives the victims will NEVER be able to have?

[slots215]

04:34 PM on 03/17/2012

these liberals never think about the victims unless it happens to their family

[mother10]

06:03 PM on 03/17/2012

that's just NOT true !...you can't paint Liberals with the same brush

[drbracket]

09:11 AM on 03/17/2012

I think each case has to be determined individually. Should the kid who made the mistake of bringing a fiream and making a monumentally bad choice of firing it be treated the same as the kid who beat a man with a baseball bat and then torched his home ? I dont think so

[Skydiver63]

08:43 AM on 03/17/2012

Unfortunately, some people are born evil. Some say its genetics others believe culture plays a big part and then there are those that blame the environment. I do not have an opinion as to why but it is clear to me that based on the brutality of the crime, life incarceration without the possibility of parole is just.

Remember, these individuals were not only capable of considering savage and horrific acts that most people could not even contemplate, but were vicious enough to perpetrate these malevolent crimes.

Now before the liberal bleeding hearts rail at my post citing the “age” factor, would they want their loved ones exposed to this type of evil if such exposure were avoidable?

[countj62]

05:25 PM on 03/17/2012

Pizz on them! Let them come in droves and fall on a deaf ear. Time to thin the herd out! Make tommorow a safer and brighter day.

[c15stars]

08:28 PM on 03/17/2012

''Unfortunately, some people are born evil'' I agree.

[Tinman0670]

08:10 AM on 03/17/2012

Some of these comments, wow. People advocating executing 14 year olds. Some of these cases like the one where the kid beat the guy with a baseball bat and set the guy on fire. Sorry, he should never get out of prison. Lionel Tate got a second chance after murdering a 6 year old girl, blew it by robbing a pizza delivery guy, and will now be in prison for life. It should all depend on the circumstances and if the person can be rehabilitated. Some of these people, if it was their 14 year old kid, I don't think they'd be advocating their execution. Some of you people are sick.

[Natalie Steutterman]

08:44 AM on 03/17/2012

I agree with you Tinman. It should be a very detailed, strict , case by case review .Like you said..............circumstances are different, and so should the punishment be. Some are born an "evil seed".....IMO. While others give in to peer pressure, and their environmental living situations. When they commit such horrific crimes ,and have no emotion or any kind of remorse..........then to me it seems they are forever lost, and incapable of rehabilitation. Only time can tell. Time in prison

[KDMac]

02:23 PM on 03/18/2012

The problem with taking things on a case by case basis is that there are always people who will cry "no fair".

[slots215]

04:42 PM on 03/17/2012

there is no such thing as rehabilitating a kid or an adult who is a cold blooded murderer, you say wow i cant believe executing a 14 year old well i have news for you when that 14 year old slices up you loved one what are you going to do forgive him give me a break

[mother10]

06:58 PM on 03/17/2012

slots215, I agree 100%....