Dozens of Arkansas Juvenile Offenders Affected by Supreme Court Ruling
By: Max Brantley, Arkansas Blog (Arkansas Times)
Updated: June 25, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled 5-4 it is unconstitutional to impose mandatory life-without-parole sentences on juveniles. The gang of four -- Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia -- dissented.
The decision included the case of Kuntrell Jackson*, sentenced to life in Arkansas. He was tried as an adult for being an accomplice in a Blytheville convenience store robbery that ended in murder. Life without parole was the only possible sentence because juveniles are exempt from the death penalty.
*Jackson was 14 at the time of the 1999 killing.
Click here for more on the story from Max Brantley's Arkansas Blog (Arkansas Times).
The decision included the case of Kuntrell Jackson*, sentenced to life in Arkansas. He was tried as an adult for being an accomplice in a Blytheville convenience store robbery that ended in murder. Life without parole was the only possible sentence because juveniles are exempt from the death penalty.
*Jackson was 14 at the time of the 1999 killing.
Click here for more on the story from Max Brantley's Arkansas Blog (Arkansas Times).
