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The Supreme Court of the United States’ ruling in Roper v. Simmons (2005) brought the constitutionality of executing juveniles to an end. The Roper Court (2005) set in motion a series of subsequent rulings culminating in Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Commonwealth v. Batts (2017) decision.
Using private interviews with a sample of judges from the Pennsylvania Criminal Court judiciary that have either sentenced or re-sentenced offenders serving life without parole for crimes committed as juveniles, this study seeks to uncover how the judiciary perceives this legal evolution and its role in their courtrooms as they re-sentence juveniles who have committed homicide. Protected by anonymity, and analyzed qualitatively using NVivo software, the data reveal the collective frustration the judiciary feels regarding the inherent paradox present in the Supreme Court mandates, complicated further by the arbitrary nature of its application. The judiciary is unanimous in their support for juveniles having a chance at redemption, yet they are united in their disappointment with the Batts II (2017) ruling and its implications. This study provides insight into one of the most powerful entities in our nation’s criminal justice system and their quest for justice as it becomes increasingly difficult to define.