Case Study: Miller V. Alabama
Kyra Rubin
Professor Jennifer Larson
English 105i
5 October 2015
Unit 2, Feeder 1
In the 2013 case of Miller v. Alabama, the Supreme Court held that a mandatory minimum sentence of life-without-parole is an unconstitutionally disproportionate punishment for a juvenile. Under the Eighth Amendment protections from cruel and unusual punishment, the Court held that mitigating factors must be considered in determining sentencing for juveniles. The issue in Montgomery v. Louisiana is concerned with whether or not this rule can be applied retroactively; doing so would potentially provide relief for the inmates who are currently serving time after being sentenced to live-without-parole as juveniles, and who didn’t have such mitigating factors considered.
Issue: Does the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Miller v. Alabama, which held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits mandatory sentencing schemes that require children convicted of homicide to be sentenced to life in prison without parole, apply retroactively?
Thesis: In this paper, I will argue that the Supreme Court’s decision in Miller v. Alabama does in fact apply retroactively.
1. Research Question 1: Does the retroactive application of Miller v. Alabama undermine the value of finality in criminal sentencing as discussed in Mackay v. United States?
MLA Works cited entry for source that addresses Research Question 1: Mackay v. United States The decision of Mackay v. United States argues against legal retroactive review by claiming that this process undermines the finality of criminal sentencing, thus threatening the efficacy, accuracy, and legitimacy of the criminal sentencing process. Justice Harlan, (who wrote this majority decision), bases these major concerns on the
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Research Question 2: How is the fairness of granting the benefits of Miller v. Alabama in future cases, while denying retroactive application, impacted by political eras and racial, economic, and home-life quality disparities of sentenced
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