{"id":6781,"date":"2012-06-26T12:22:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-26T12:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.digitalhost.co\/frankgaviria\/?p=6781"},"modified":"2023-08-18T13:59:17","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T13:59:17","slug":"supreme-court-overturns-mandatory-life-w-out-parole-for-juveniles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.digitalhost.co\/frankgaviria\/supreme-court-overturns-mandatory-life-w-out-parole-for-juveniles\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Overturns Mandatory Life W\/Out Parole For Juveniles"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Supreme Court Overturns Mandatory Life W\/Out Parole For Juveniles<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) \u2013 Lost amidst the hubbub of the Supreme Court\u2019s docket on Monday was a key ruling dealing with how severe of a punishment a juvenile offender could be given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high court ruled that laws which require juveniles convicted of murder to be sentenced to life in prison violates the Eighth Amendment\u2019s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The court left open the possibility of individual juveniles to be sentenced on a case-by-case basis to life without parole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling will see roughly 2,000 juvenile offenders serving life in prison possibly receiving new sentences, including at least one high profile case in South Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Hernandez who was convicted of the 2004 murder of 14 year old Jaime Gough in the bathroom at Southwood Middle School. Hernandez was also 14 at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaime\u2019s parents, Jorge and Maria Gough hope that judges will take into account the victims as well as the offenders when sentencing juvenile killers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what it is to be on the other side as parents,\u201d said Jorge Gough. \u201cBut I know for one thing, It hurts very much to know no one thinks about my son anymore and everyone is focusing on Michael.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hernandez could get a new sentencing hearing. The Goughs said hearing about the Supreme Court ruling brought back painful memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe heard this news yesterday and it\u2019s just like we got a flashback of the first day, and my goodness we\u2019ve got to go through this again when is this going to be over?\u201d said Jorge Gough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He and his wife Maria say they have forgiven their son\u2019s killer but they still want him to pay for his crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve definitely taken a step forward for protecting children,\u201d said attorney Julie Ebenstein, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. \u201cI think it\u2019s another recognition by the court that children are not just miniature adults; that they have special needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 5-4 decision divided along political ideology lines with Justice Anthony Kennedy providing the swing vote to the more liberal justices. The decision came on a combination of cases, Miller vs. Alabama and Jackson vs. Hobbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ebenstein noted the United State is the only nation in the world that sentences children to life in prison for anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJudges and juries need to be able to tailor sentences to a particular crime and a particular defendant,\u201d Ebenstein said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological age and its hallmark features\u2014among them, immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate risks and consequences,\u201d Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the majority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe therefore hold that the Eighth Amendment forbids a sentencing scheme that mandates life in prison without possibility of parole for juvenile offenders,\u201d Justice Kagan wrote. \u201cBy making youth (and all that accompanies it) irrelevant to imposition of that harshest prison sentence, such a scheme poses too great a risk of disproportionate punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision didn\u2019t address either of the cases. Instead, the high court struck down life without parole as a penalty for juveniles. It then sent both cases back to lower courts to address the sentence with the new guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high court\u2019s ruling places the burden of the sentence back upon sentencing judges when a juvenile is convicted of murder. The justices didn\u2019t provide specific guidelines or factors to control the sentencing judge\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough we do not foreclose a sentencer\u2019s ability to make that judgment in homicide cases, we require it to take into account how children are different, and how those differences counsel against irrevocably sentencing them to a lifetime in prison,\u201d Justice Kagan wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criminal defense attorney Frank Gaviria said the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling was \u201can important decision\u201d But, he warned that life in prison is still on the table for juveniles who kill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn some of these cases, ultimately, the judges, when they get an opportunity to resentence, will continue to impose life,\u201d Gaviria said. \u201cBut I would imagine in some other cases the judge will use some discretion and impose penalties less than life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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