Miller v. Alabama

The Washington Post reports that three men sentenced as juveniles to serve life without parole might be able to make the case to trial-court judges that their sentences should be adjusted:  "The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said there was at least some reason to think last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Miller v. Alabama, throwing out mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles, should be applied retroactively. The court stressed its decision is tentative and made under a standard that means there is enough possible merit to warrant a full exploration of the matter. The defendants must still convince the district judges they should be resentenced."

A circuit split might be developing on whether Miller applies retroactively, which could set up another decision for the U.S. Supreme Court to make, the paper also reported.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders. Now the Alabama Supreme Court has set out a 14-factor test that judges can use to decide if juveniles convicted of murder can be sentenced to life with or without the possiblity of parole. The Sentencing Law and Policy Blog noted that the Alabama Supreme Court found an opinon from the Pennsylvania Superior Court, Commonwealth v. Knox, helpful in setting out the 14 factors, which include the juvenile's mental-health hisotry, the juvenile's emotional maturity and development and "any other relevant factor related to the juvenile's youth."