Questions Presented

Evan Miller was sentenced to a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole for a homicide offense committed when he was only fourteen years old. Evan is one of only seventy-three fourteen-year-olds nationwide who are serving such sentences.

The questions presented are:

1. Does imposition of a life-without-parole sentence on a fourteen-year-old child convicted of homicide violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments' prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments, when the extreme rarity of such sentences in practice reflects a national consensus regarding the reduced criminal culpability of young children?

2. Does imposition of mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole on a fourteen-year-old child convicted of homicide - a sentence imposed pursuant to a statutory scheme that categorically precludes consideration of the offender's young age or any other mitigating circumstances - violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments' prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments?

Merit Briefs

• Brief for Petitioner Evan Miller
• Brief for Respondent State of Alabama (in 10-9646 only)
• Reply Brief for Petitioner Evan Miller

Amicus Briefs

• Brief for the American Bar Association in Support of Petitioner
• Brief for The American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, and National Association of Social Workers in Support of Petitioners
• Brief for Amnesty International, et al. in Support of Petitioners
• Brief for Certain Family Members of Victims Killed by Youths in Support of Petitioners
• Brief for Former Juvenile Court Judges in Support of Petitioners
• Brief for Jeffrey Fagan, Deborah Baskin, Frank R. Baumgartner, Katherine Beckett, Donna Bishop, Alfred Blumstein, Robert Brame, et al in Support of Petitioners
• Brief for J. Lawrence Aber, Marc S. Atkins, Camilla P. Benbow, Mary M. Brabeck, Jane C. Conoley, Kenneth A. Dodge, Michelle Fine, Adriana Galván, Margo Gardner, Charles F. Geier, Frances E. Jensen, Jacqueline Mattis, Pedro Noguera, Bruce D. Perry, and Vincent Schmithorst in Support of Petitioners
• Brief for the Juvenile Law Center, et al., in Support of Petitioners
• Brief for the State of Michigan, Eighteen Other States, and One Territory in Support of Respondents
• Brief for the National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Lifers in Support of Respondents
• Brief for Professor of Law and his Students from the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University in Support of Petitioners
• Brief for National District Attorneys Association in Support of Respondents