The Influence of Science on Decision-Making: An Analysis of Juvenile Life Without Parole Cases Post-Miller

• In Event: A Collection of Systematic Content Analyses of Constitutional Criminal Procedure Issues

Abstract

A number of landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases over the past two decades - Roper v. Simmons (2005), Graham v. Florida (2010), Miller v. Alabama (2012), Montgomery v. Louisiana (2016), and Jones v. Mississippi (2021) - have shifted practices in juvenile criminal case sentencing. The decision in Miller v. Alabama (2012) established precedent for more individualized approaches to sentencing that account for developmental characteristics of juveniles when considering a sentence of life without parole. Developmental neuroscience and social science have been central to informing these major legal decisions regarding juvenile sentencing and punishment practices. Through a content analysis of nationwide juvenile life without parole cases, this paper explores whether scientific frameworks continue to be applied in sentencing decisions in the post-Miller era. The findings of this study are contextualized by Eighth Amendment implications surrounding juvenile life without parole sentencing practices.

Author

• Alexis Klemm, Arizona State University