An Alabama court ruled today that Evan Miller, who at 14 was the youngest child ever sentenced to life without parole, and who was the plaintiff in the landmark SCOTUS case, Miller v. Alabama, will never be released from prison. al.com/news/2021/04/e…
In Miller v. Alabama, SCOTUS ruled that mandatory life sentences for children were unconstitutional. Each sentencing decision had to consider the individual person, and LWOP sentences limited only to children who demonstrated “irreparable corruption.”
thenation.com/article/archiv…
thenation.com/article/archiv…
Last week, SCOTUS issued a decision that essentially gutted Miller v. Alabama, and a subsequent decision in Montgomery v. Louisiana, ruling it was not necessary for a court to find a child demonstrated "irreparable corruption" to sentence them to LWOP.
nytimes.com/2021/04/22/us/…
nytimes.com/2021/04/22/us/…
Evan Miller never had a chance to have a childhood.
He attempted suicide four times before the age of 14, one attempt when he was just 5 years old - when he was in kindergarten.
He and his two siblings were abused, beaten, and whipped.
washingtonpost.com/national/sente…
He attempted suicide four times before the age of 14, one attempt when he was just 5 years old - when he was in kindergarten.
He and his two siblings were abused, beaten, and whipped.
washingtonpost.com/national/sente…
Evan Miller was high on drugs and had been drinking alcohol with the adult victim before he killed him.
He has done extremely well while in prison.
The court acknowledges all of this in its decision, but somehow concludes it is not relevant.
He has done extremely well while in prison.
The court acknowledges all of this in its decision, but somehow concludes it is not relevant.
The problem is that SCOTUS' decision last week in Jones v. Mississippi essentially leaves it up to a judge's discretion. They don't even have to pretend to find a reason why a person shouldn't be given a second chance.
All of which means Evan Miller doesn't get a chance to reap any benefit from the SCOTUS precedent his case set.
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