Miller V. Alabama - 1421 Words

Miller v. Alabama CJA/354 Miller v. Alabama The United States Supreme Court consists of eight associate justices and one chief justice who are petitioned more than 5,000 times a year to hear various cases (Before the Court in Miller V. Alabama, 2012). At its discretion, the Supreme Court selects which cases they choose to review. Some of the selected cases began in the state court system and others began in the federal court system. On June 25, 2012 the justices of the Supreme Court weighed in on the constitutionality of life without parole for juvenile offenders. The case was Miller v. Alabama and actually included another case, Jackson v Hobbs, as well (2012). Both were criminal cases involving 14 year old boys who were†¦show more content†¦The second component of a crime, mens reus, or criminal intent, was demonstrated by the following example. At one point Miller covered Cannon with a sheet and stated, â€Å"Cole, I am God, I’ve come to take your life† (2012, p.1) The third element of a crime, concur rence, was chronologically sequenced with Miller’s intent to commit the act followed by his commission of the criminal act. Kuntrell Jackson Kuntrell Jackson was also 14-years old in November 1999 when he and two other youths attempted to rob a video store and in the process shot and killed Laurie Troup (De Vogue, 2012). Jackson did not do the shooting but was an accomplice to the act; therefore, he received a sentence of life without parole (2012). As for mens reus and actus reus in Jackson’s case, Arkansas court conceded Jackson did not commit the homicidal act nor did he intend for the death of the store clerk occur; however, the State argued Jackson’s culpability rested with his reckless indifference to the value of human life (Supreme Court Rejects Mandatory Life Sentences Without Possibility of Parole for Juveniles, 2012). Lippman (2010) explains the requirement for actus reus of accomplice liability is satisfied by even a relatively small amount of material or psychological assistance to the perpetrator of the crime. Furthermore, the mens rea requirement for accomplice liability only requires intent t o assist in the commissionShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Miller s Miller V Alabama 1180 Words   |  5 PagesAccording to legal petitions, in Miller v. Alabama (2012), a 14-year old young man by the name of Evan Miller entered the home of his neighbor, Cole Cannon. He is to have allegedly beat and robbed his neighbor. He exited the premises of Cannon’s home. Later in the same evening, Mr. Miller returned to his neighbor’s home, with a friend, Colby Smith searching for drugs within the trailer. They stole a stack of baseball cards and returned to Miller’s home. Miller and Smith, again returned to Cannon’sRead MoreMiller V. Alabama Case Study1864 Words   |  8 Pages Miller V. Alabama Case Study Roman Colon Pennsylvania State University: Capitol Campus Introduction On the Summer night of July 15, 2003, Evan Miller along with an accomplice committed murder by the way of battery and arson (Oyez). Nearly a decade later, this case would play a crucial role in the Supreme Court decision on mandatory life without parole sentences of juveniles. In a decision which relied heavily on the beliefs and opinions of those present, the court argued the culpabilityRead MoreMiller vs Alabama1270 Words   |  6 PagesMiller v. Alabama (2012) Supreme Court Case Introduction The Supreme Court reviewed the constitutionality of mandatory life sentences without parole enforced upon persons aged fourteen and younger found guilty of homicide. The court declared unconstitutional a compulsory sentence of life without parole for children. The states have been barred from routinely imposing sentences based on the crime committed. There is a requirementRead MoreThe Juvenile Justice System And Juveniles1663 Words   |  7 Pagesin the criminal justice, but I am going to discuss a few that have made quite a significant impact on the juvenile justice system today and I will mention the decisions from these cases later on. The first case that I am going to talk about is Roper v. Simmons. This landmark case took place in 2005. In 1993, Christopher Simmons planned to kill Shirley Crook and plotted with two people younger than him. They were going to rob and murder the victim by throwing her off a bridge after they finished committingRead MoreSupreme Court Cases and the Eighth Ammendment865 Words   |  3 PagesAmendment: no cruel or unusual punishment, it definitely changed America’s on what punishment is considered cruel and unusual. The Eighth Amendment was tested through many Supreme Court and there were some very significant ones such as the Miller v. Alabama. The no cruel or unusual aspect of the Eighth Amendment gives protection of undeserving or unreasonable punishment to a citizen that commits a crime. As Supreme Court cases regarding the Eighth Amendment open and closed the meaning of no cruelRead MoreClarence Thomas: One of the Justices Essay733 Words   |  3 Pagesdecline, as I did in my youth, to sacrifice who I am for who they think I should be,† exclaimed by Thomas after a discussion of his conservative view points. One of the top most controversial cases Thomas was an Associate Justice for was Miller v. Alabama, which occurred from March 20, 2012 to June 25, 2012. The Court held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders. It was said these juvenile offenders could not receive cruelRead MoreThe Second Amendment Prohibited Citizens Under The Age Of Eighteen921 Words   |  4 Pageseighteen based on the case Miller v. Alabama. Most decisions like this are retroactive and can be applied to prisoners already convicted and sentenced. The case Montgomery v. Louisiana will answer the question of whether or not the Miller decision will be applied retroactively to around two thousand convicted prisoners. However, state and federal courts have various understandings and applications of Miller, and as of 2015, twelve state supreme courts have applied Miller retroactively to people sentencedRead MoreJuveniles : The Criminal Justice System 1777 Words   |  8 Pagescriminal justice system. Since a juvenile’s brain is still undeveloped, the prosecutors have to develop a case that would with no hesitation to convict them. The cases of Roper v. Simmons (2002), Graham v. Florida (2010), and Miller v. Alabama (2012) made decisions which have impacted the criminal justice policies. Roper v. Simmons (2005) Christopher Simmons was convicted, at the age of seventeen, for the murder of Shirley Cook and was given the death penalty. In 2003, the Missouri Supreme CourtRead MoreCriminal Justice In America Now And Then Appears To Be1405 Words   |  6 Pagesmisbehavior, and prejudice, if not unordinary, discipline, combined with determined resistance to change and an inability to learn from even its most recognizable mistakes. What s more, no place, are matters are more worse than in the southern state of Alabama, the embraced grounds where Stevenson has become an advocate for the oppressed in the legal system. Stevenson, the visionary founder and director of the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative, without a doubt has done as much as any other livingRead MoreLife Without Parole For Minors1869 Words   |  8 Pagesthat sentencing. It all started with the landmark case of Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005), which states that giving defendants who were under the age of 18 when they committed their crime could not be given the death penalty. Graham v. Florida, 130 S.Ct. 2011 (2010), is a case in which the United States Supreme Court decided that juvenile offenders cannot be sentenced to life without parole for non-homicide offenses. Miller v. Alabama, 132 S.Ct. 2455 (2012), is a case which explains that mandatory