SCOTUS Opinion Strikes Down Mandatory Life Sentencing for Juveniles Who Murder

Sixty-one Massachusetts prisoners who are serving their lives in jail for murders they committed before turning 18 could be able to file an appeal now that the Supreme Court has struck down mandatory life sentences for juveniles convicted of murder. In the majority opinion, Justice Elena Kagan wrote: “Under these schemes, every juvenile will receive the same sentence as every other — the 17-year-old and the 14-year-old, the shooter and the accomplice, the child from a stable household and the child from a chaotic and abusive one.” [Boston.com]