Criminal Law

The case being used for this paper has two separate cases involved, but I will only be using one as a reference. The two cases in which were brought to the United States Supreme Court together are very similar and involve youths being given lifetime verdicts deprived of the possibility of parole for committing murder.

The case number is 10-9646 Miller v. Alabama. This case was brought to the United States Supreme Court on March 20, 2012, involving two fourteen-year-old boys, who were found guilty of murder in two different cases, and also from two separate states, one being Alabama and the other being that of Arkansas. Within each of these cases one of the boys made the killing and in the other the boy was an accessory to murder. Each teenager had been punished with a full lifetime sentence. One result involved with the teens was a burglary that ended with the store clerk being shot and killed, while the other involved a case of arson. These cases outlined will test the Supreme Court’s past rulings in the determination of teens not being small adults and that they must be given a second chance for redemption. I chose these cases to write this paper on is that my interest is in the juvenile justice field of the law. The reason for my interest in the sector of minors of the criminal justice system is because of my own young history. When I was young I had my run-ins with the juvenile judicial system and although these cases are far worse than what I went through, let’s just say I have a soft spot for young offenders and believe there is most often an underlying reason as to why youths act out and end up on the wrong side of the law. Now let’s get back to the case at hand. I will be referencing this paper on only one of the two cases. The case in which I chose is the case involving defendant Jackson from Arkansas, charged with capital felony murder and aggravated robbery.

In the Supreme Court case number 10-9647 Miller v. Alabama case, the petitioner Jackson along with two other male youth offenders set out to rob a video store. As the three boys proceeded towards the store, Jackson found out one boy with them was armed with a shotgun. Once making it to the store Jackson did not go into the store for the greatest part when the burglary was taken place, but subsequently, he did, in fact, enter the store at which time one of the teenagers shot the store clerk Troup with the shotgun killing him, making him an accomplice to the murder. Arkansas police later arrested Jackson, for capital felony murder and aggravated robbery as an adult. Jackson was convicted of all chargers and sent to prison for the rest of his life deprived of the possibility of parole. After this Jackson later filed a petition through U.S. Supreme Court arguing his sentence terms. The argument he presented stated that a life sentence for a fourteen-year-old deprived of the possibility for parole is a violation against