Supreme Court agrees to take up juvenile life sentence cases

Tuesday, November 8, 2011  

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases involving juveniles who were sentenced to life in prison for homicide-related crimes.

In May 2010, the justices barred life sentences for juveniles who have not committed homicide. The two new cases that were accepted -- Jackson v. Hobbs, No. 10-9647, and Miller v. Alabama, No. 10-9646 -- will clarify whether life sentences are allowed when juvenile crime has resulted in death.

Just last week, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 48-year sentence for a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe who pleaded guilty as an adult to second-degree homicide. Bryan Austin Boneshirt was 17 when he admitted he killed Marquita Walking Eagle on November 1, 2009.

Get the Story:
Justices Will Hear 2 Cases of Life Sentences for Youths (The New York Times 11/8)

Related Stories:
8th Circuit backs 48-year-sentence for Rosebud juvenile (10/31)
Supreme Court bars life terms in non-murder juvenile cases (5/17)
Supreme Court bars execution of juvenile offenders (4/2)